One Twitter picture later and we have a lot of questions. Basketball fans on Twitter are concerned after one of the GOATs posted a picture of himself on a hospital bed. So, why is Shaq in the hospital?
On March 19, 2023, Shaquille O’Neal posted a picture of him on a hospital bed on Twitter with the caption, “i’m always watching @TurnerSportsEJ and @Candace_Parker miss y’all,” referring to his NBA on TNT and March Madness coverage co-hosts Ernie Johnson and Candace Parker. The former Lakers star didn’t list down a reason why he was in a hospital bed, but it met some concerns from fans.
So what really happened with Shaq? Read more below to find out.
Why is Shaq in the hospital?
What happened to Shaq and why is he in the hospital? Turns out he’s recovering from hip surgery. Shaq tweeted out after much concern from his fans and assured them that he’s alright with a meme video of him shaking his butt to “Hello” by Adele, “to all the people who are worried and concerned. first off , let me say thank you. And lastly no need to worry, just had to get some BBL WORK AKA #hipreplacement. Thanks and love you all. but no need to worry and yes i’m fine.” BBL stands for a Brazillian Butt Lift, which which transfers fat from the hips, abdomen, lower back and thighs into the buttocks, according to the American Board of Cosmetic Surgery.
On Monday, March 20, 2023, TMZ reported that sports insiders revealed that DJ Diesel went under the knife over the weekend to have an issue with his hip corrected and everything went according to plan. They were told he was already on the mend.
Shaq already revealed that he absolutely needed hip surgery in his podcast The Big Podcast. When Candace Parker was talking about her dunking contest in 2004 and whether she could dunk now, she said “I don’t know, if I tried, I probably could dunk, I just probably can’t land. And landing as you get older, it gets harder and harder.” This prompted co-host Nischelle Turner to bring up the video of Shaq and one of his sons dunking at the gym.
He said that the dunking video was taken a year ago, but now that he’s faced some health problems, he revealed “You know, my hip and I gotta get surgery.” He then joked, “But after my surgery, I may come back, try to pass up LeBron in most points,” he added jokingly.” Referring to how he was “professionally” jealous about LeBron’s overtaking fellow Laker legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar in points tally in the NBA.
Many fans and co-workers of Shaq sent their words of support to the 7’1 basketball player. Parker quote tweeted Shaq’s hospital picture with “Love ya big Fella ❤️.” Former NBA All-Star Roy Hibbert replied, “U good big man?”
In a GQ interview, he talked about how he took his health seriously after not going to the doctor for a long time. “Let me clarify. When you play, you go to the doctor to get checked and a physical, right? But I ain’t played in 11, years so if I’m not playing, what would I go to the doctor for, right?” he said. “So when I went back to the doctor there was some stuff I never even knew. They give you those certain words: “Hey man, you got sleep apnea. Sleep apnea can cause hypertension or strokes, you could die.” I said, ‘What?’ ‘You could die.’ So now I’ve got to sleep with a sleep machine.”
Image: Ethan Miller/Getty Images
He talked about the sacrifices he made in his lifestyle that his doctor pointed out. “‘All those painkillers you were taking, bro? Your kidneys are kind of weak. No more painkillers.’ I was dependent upon painkillers—not addicted. Certain days when I couldn’t move, I just popped one or two, just to get me going. But I’m off that now. I had to really get checked out. When they hit you with that three-letter word that starts with D and ends with E, it changes stuff up.”
Before his virtual reality New Year’s Eve countdown special for 2023, The Shaq-tacular Spectacular, Shaq told Entertainment Tonight about how he’s taking his health and body image seriously. “I lost 40 pounds,” Shaq shared with the outlet. “I need to lose about 20 more, but impressive. Imma get real chiseled up and do an underwear ad with my sons.” His goal was to achieve the goal by his 51th birthday on March 6, 2023—two weeks before his surgery. He said that his goal was ultimately “Shirt off. Chiseled.”
“I got a couple people involved — It’s all about eating right. I got some blood work done, a friend of mine called me and said, ‘You’re fat,’ and she gave me this guy’s name, and he did some blood work, and you know, ’cause I was the athlete — I wasn’t a salad eater. I won’t pay attention to any of that. I don’t care about none of that,” Shaq said. “I didn’t know what the difference between a carb and a protein, at 50 years old I never knew. So, he was saying you can’t do this, you can’t do that, more vegetables, my iron’s low. And once I just started changing those certain things, it dropped.”
He continued, “Plus the supplements I’m taking, and the shakes I’m drinking, the weight just fell off. I’m not at 100 percent ninja mode yet. I’m still 75 percent.”
On advice for his healthy lifestyle without a trainer or chef, he gave his fans advice. “Start off, if you can, by walking 30 minutes a day. A lot of people can’t do that ’cause I know, you got the kids, you gotta get to work. But if you can, start off by walking 30 minutes a day,” he said. “Put your headphones on, put on your favorite song, 30 minutes a day.” He continued, “Then you gotta eliminate something that you love. Eliminate it. I haven’t had soda for a while. I gotta eliminate bread and soda, so, if I could eliminate bread or soda, I think I could get the Marky Wahlberg look. I want to be known as the Black Mark Wahlberg.”
As well as a renowned basketball player, Shaq also plays DJ gigs on the weekends as DJ Diesel. “I was raised on the mentality that once you get, you must give,” he told Billboard. “I have been fortunate to receive a lot in my life, all of which was earned, but now that I have built this platform it’s my turn to step up in the biggest way I can. Seeing the change you can make in someone’s life is immediately gratifying, but also everlasting. I call myself the CFO: Chief Fun Officer; I just like seeing people happy.”
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