Shaquille O’Neal cleared the air after a cuddly photo with a female friend went viral, explaining that not every picture is necessarily worth a thousand words.
O’Neal, 53, posed for a snap with a friend named Monique Martin last week, wrapping his arms around her from behind as the pair smiled for the camera.
“My favorite guy is back in town and of course he stopped by to see his favorite people!!” Martin captioned the photo via Instagram. “Class act always, which is why I love seeing that face pop in!!! 🏀🏀 #shaqattack #myfavoritehuman.”
Sports media social account 4thQuarterTV caught wind of the photo, reposting it with a suggestive caption.
NBA legend Shaquille O’Neal gave his blunt expectations for Megan Thee Stallion’s new relationship with basketball star, Klay Thompson. O’Neal, 53, was asked about the rapper’s courtship with Thompson, 34, on “The Big Podcast with Shaq” on Monday, July 21. “Six weeks,” O’Neal said. “The line is six weeks.” When his podcast cohost, Adam Lefkoe, […]
“#Shaq recently pulled up on a man’s wife, and she had this to say,” the post read.
The NBA Hall of Famer did not appreciate the insinuation, which he let be known in the post’s comments section.
“Yes my boys wife I can tell yall site is broke and need money nice try this is the reason yall always gonna b a broke blog,” O’Neal wrote. “Thanks for making me more money though #dummies.”
Martin is married to her husband, Ryan Rackleff, and the couple share three sons.
While it’s not clear how O’Neal is friends with the couple, Martin gushed about the basketball star in the comments section of her post.
“He stops by often to check in on us,” she wrote about O’Neal, who she called “the biggest baby ever.”
O’Neal was married to his wife, Shaunie O’Neal, from 2002 to 2011 and the couple share four children: sons Shareef and Shaqir and daughters Amirah and Me’arah.
The former Lakers star also became a stepfather to son, Myles, from a previous relationship of Shaunie’s, and shares daughter Taahirah with his former girlfriend, Arnetta Yardbourgh.
Earlier this year, O’Neal was forced to shut down more relationship rumors, this time with 21-year-old OnlyFans model Sophie Rain.
After O’Neal was pictured in attendance at Rain’s 21st birthday party in September, Tiktoker Noah Glenn Carter made a video claiming a lot of people were “not happy” about O’Neal being a guest at the shindig.
“I don’t [draw] that young but I will date your mom and give u a brother,” O’Neal commented on Carter’s video.
In other since-deleted comments according to TMZ, O’Neal also wrote, “Stop tryna create rumors don’t make me slap you dude,” and, “Your mom is hot tell her to hit me on my sky tell pager.”’
During an appearance on WNBA star Angel Reese’s “Unapologetically Angel” podcast last year, O’Neal argued he’s probably “gonna end up alone” because modern-day relationships have become too taxing for him.
“Because y’all be making rules up as you go along,” he said. “There is no handbook on how to be the perfect man or perfect husband.”
O’Neal added, “If I’m not physically seeing somebody — me, the Diesel — and I’m with you every day and you know my schedule, it shouldn’t matter what I’m doing on my phone. It’s not cheating and then you can’t tell me that’s worse than cheating. It’s not. I just don’t understand that.”