Shaquille O’Neal had fans worried after sharing a picture of himself in a hospital bed.
The NBA legend was missing from NBA on TNT but sent out a message to his fellow co-hosts, Ernie Johnson and Candace Parker.
He wrote on Twitter: “I’m always watching @TurnerSportsEJ and @Candace_Parker miss y’all.”
However, he caused a bit of a stir when accompanying the message was a photo of himself dressed in hospital drapes, connected to multiple wires, and seemingly recovering.
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Former NBA All-Star Roy Hibbert asked: “[You] good big man?”
Musician Matthew Mayer wrote: “Hope you ok, big man.”
Another said: “Love you Shaq! Prayers up.”
However, other fans quickly cleared up that Shaq’s surgery involved his hip.
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The former Lakers player had mentioned that his hip would need replacing during an episode of The Big Podcast with Shaq, according to the NY Post.
It’s unclear when he’ll be returning to his analyst duties, but it seems like he’s got bigger or lighter things on his mind.
O’Neal said on his podcast that he’d be hoping to get back into the gym to continue his extraordinary weight loss and figure transformation.
He said: “’ll be back April 16, and I’m going in.
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“I’m going to try and lose 30 pounds and I’m going to try and get an eight-pack. Right now I got a little five-pack.”
He explained that he would be following the ‘51 diet’ which he says is ‘five BS meals and one meal.’
Shaq says all he’d be having is a shake for breakfast, fruit plate, four chicken breasts with ketchup, a salad, and a shake.
I don’t know about that, sounds pretty grim.
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O’Neal added: “I’m going to do that for 90 days. I’m about to get shredded.”
In an appearance on Logan Paul’s Impaulsive podcast last October, Shaq had revealed that he was down 36 pounds.
He said: “I was 401 pounds. Now I’m 365.
“I’m trying to take it back to 345.
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“I want to have muscles everywhere, and I want to do an underwear ad with my sons [for] Fruit of the Loom, baby.”
Topics: NBA, Basketball, Shaquille O’Neal
Jayden Collins