NBA legend Shaq details dramatic weight loss: ‘I couldn’t climb the stairs’
Shaquille O’Neal, three-time NBA Finals MVP, is making his health a priority.
O’Neal, who turned 51 this year, detailed his recent 55-pound weight loss. He now weighs 351 pounds, but he continues to strive to lose even more weight.
“I’m probably going to have 315 to 330,” the Los Angeles Lakers legend told “Entertainment Tonight,” adding that he eventually “wants to have a 12-pack.”
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TV analyst Shaquille O’Neal before Game 2 of the 2022 NBA Finals between the Golden State Warriors and Boston Celtics at Chase Center in San Francisco on June 5, 2022. (Darren Yamashita/USA Today Sports)
“I have a five-pack now, so I have seven more packs left because I want to take my shirt off on Instagram,” O’Neal joked.
SHAQ warns ‘old dudes’ as he returns to the gym after hip replacement surgery
He noted that his difficulty climbing stairs had been the driving force behind his recent weight loss journey.
“I was getting chubby and couldn’t even climb stairs. I didn’t like the way I looked in the mirror. I was like, ‘I’m going to lose 20,’ and then I tried to lose 20. 20.”
O’Neal recently took to social media to share a video of his progress. An Instagram video showed the Pro Basketball Hall of Famer ripping off a tank top and flexing his muscles.
Shaquille O’Neal attends a game between the Houston Rockets and the Dallas Mavericks at Toyota Center on December 23, 2022, in Houston. (Carmen Mandato/Getty Images)
American bodybuilder Phil Heath was tagged in O’Neal’s Instagram post.
“In my old life I was @philheath, we were almost there @rocshabazz, this baby @novexbiotech #gf9,” Shaq wrote in the post.
O’Neal spoke to People magazine in March around the time he hit the 40-pound weight loss mark. He talked about learning to take his health more seriously after retiring from the NBA.
Shaq attends a Shaq-A-Claus and Pepsi Stronger Together surprise for an Atlanta school with toys and treats on December 20, 2021, in McDonough, Georgia. (Derek White/Getty Images for Pepsi Stronger Together)
“I wish I had paid more attention to it. I was such a mental warrior that none of that mattered to me,” O’Neal said. “I didn’t really take it seriously until I looked in the mirror six, seven years after I retired. I looked awful. I had no definition and basically I was fat. I was really fat.”
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O’Neal said he still does cardio several days a week in addition to weight training. He returned to the gym earlier this year after hip replacement surgery.
“I’m about to get my game back all y’all old hoop dudes in @24hrfitness @lafitness @lifetimefitness I’m coming for y’all,” he captioned a social media video of himself. even in a gym and walking with a crutch after hip surgery.
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