Sports shorts Shaquille O’Neal’s son to miss freshman season at UCLA

UCLA freshman Shareef O’Neal will sit out the entire upcoming basketball season because of a heart condition that the son of Hall of Famer Shaquille O’Neal says is “risky.”

The younger O’Neal didn’t specify the condition in a TMZ Sports video, saying only that “I know it’s something serious and it’s risky.”

O’Neal said he will attend classes and take a medical redshirt. He’s expected to be sidelined for three to four months after undergoing surgery.

UCLA said in a statement Friday that it will support O’Neal as he gets the issue resolved. The school said only that he was being sidelined for a medical reason and a spokesman declined to provide further details. Aaron Judge again has baseball’s most popular jersey.

MLB says the Yankee slugger’s No. 99 was the top seller for the second straight season. Judge beat out 2017 AL MVP Jose Altuve, who will be trying to repeat as a World Series champion with the Houston Astros next month.

Judge and the Yankees will face Oakland in the AL wild-card game Wednesday. Teammate Giancarlo Stanton was ninth in jersey sales in his first season with New York.

MVP candidates Javier Baez and Mookie Betts each jumped seven spots into the top five. Baez, an electrifying infielder with the Chicago Cubs, ranked third. Betts, the AL MVP favorite with the Boston Red Sox, was fifth.

Clayton Kershaw was fourth on the list in what could be his final season with the Los Angeles Dodgers. Kershaw can opt out of the final two years of his deal at the end of the season. Bryce Harper ranked 13th in the last season of his contract with the Washington Nationals.

Los Angeles Angels twoway sensation Shohei Ohtani ranked eighth. The Japanese rookie also had the most visited player page on the league’s website.