Sam Amico
Legendary NBA center and current TNT analyst Shaquille O’Neal posted a picture of himself in a hospital bed with IVs in his arms and a shower cap on his head … and everyone is wondering why he’s there.
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Shaq never said.
Instead, his tweet was about TNT basketball show host Ernie Johnson and analyst Candace Parker, a former WNBA great.
“i’m always watching @TurnerSportsEJ and @Candace_Parker miss y’all” O’Neal’s tweet read above the picture of him resting in the hospital bed.
As of Monday, the photo has more than 6.5 million “likes,” and thousands of comments, many expressing concern.
TMZ reported that O’Neal underwent hip surgery — and while that may be the case, the mystery of his tween still left many of his fans remarkably concerned.
What Happened, Shaq?
Asked former NBA center Roy Hibbert, “U good big man?”
O’Neal, who turned 51 on March 6, has been a regular on TNT himself of course, as part of the award-winning “Inside the NBA” show along with Johnson, Charles Barkley and Kenny Smith. He was also spotted at a Big 12 tournament game earlier this month, shaking hands with legendary in-game analyst Dick Vitale.
He also held a birthday bash on March 10, showing no signs then that anything was wrong then physically. His tweet painted quite a different picture.
O’Neal recently revealed that he intended to take his health more seriously after a doctor’s visit revealed he suffered from sleep apnea.
“I like to create crazy motivation,” O’Neal said on Logan Paul’s Impaulsive podcast. “I was looking at myself and I had that Charles Barkley retirement body.
“I didn’t want my stomach to be over the belt anymore. So I was just like, ‘Let me go ahead and get slim.’ After that [picture] went viral, now I’ve got to live up to it.”
“I was 401 pounds. Now I’m 365. I’m trying to take it back to 345. I want to have muscles everywhere, and I want to do an underwear ad with my sons [for] Fruit of the Loom, baby,” O’Neal said, adding that he “wants to become a sex symbol.”
For now, the world is left trying to figure out what has big Shaq down.
