Shaquille O’Neal FRCphoto/Shutterstock
Shaquille O’Neal may have retired from the NBA in 2011, but he’s not slowing down yet as evidenced by his latest gym workout.
“In my former life I was @philheath we almost there @rocshabazz that @novexbiotech #gf9 baby,” O’Neal, 51, captioned a Thursday, August 3, Instagram video as he prepared to lift weights.
As the basketball icon stepped into the room, he tore off his gray tank top — right down the middle. Once he removed his shirt, O’Neal headed over to his weight bench to start a rep.
He pumped himself up even further by adding a monologue from the anime Tokyo Ghoul to the background of the video.
“I was born with something inside me that refused to settle for average and I’m grateful for it,” the voiceover quipped. “I am a warrior, a destroyer, a force of pure violence and all that I desire is the sheer glory of victory. Mercy is for the weak, surrender for those who have no conviction. I am coming for this world and all it has to offer. Nothing will stop me.”
O’Neal — who previously played basketball for the Orlando Magic, the Los Angeles Lakers, the Miami Heat, the Phoenix Suns, the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Boston Celtics — has recently been candid about his wellness journey stemming from his desire to lose weight.
“I lost 40 pounds. I need to lose about 20 more, but [it’s] impressive,” he told Entertainment Tonight in December 2022. “Imma get real chiseled up and do an underwear ad with my sons.”
O’Neal — who shares four kids with ex-wife Shaunie O’Neal and daughter Taahirah with ex-girlfriend Arnetta Yardbourgh — told the outlet that his progress was “all about eating right.”
“[Because] 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,” O’Neal recalled to the outlet of learning to get in shape and change his habits. “I didn’t know the difference between a carb and a protein at 50 years old, I never knew. So, [my doctor] 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 added at the time: “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.”
Shaquille O’Neal may have retired from the NBA in 2011, but he’s not slowing down yet as evidenced by his latest gym workout. “In my former life I was @philheath we almost there @rocshabazz that @novexbiotech #gf9 baby,” O’Neal, 51, captioned a Thursday, August 3, Instagram video as he prepared to lift weights. As the
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