Shaquille O’Neal Jokes About “BBL” After Hip Replacement

Source: Ethan Miller / Getty

Shaquille O’Neal is always here for a joke, even to the detriment of his health.

The NBA Hall of Famer sparked concern on social media Sunday when he posted a picture of himself in a hospital bed. He didn’t give much other information about his visit, aside from saying that he was watching his colleagues Ernie Johnson and Candace Parker take on the TNT NBA commentary on their own.

Fans were worried about the big man’s health, and he quickly clarified that he’s doing alright by making a Brazilian butt lift joke.

“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,” he tweeted alongside a distorted throwback image of his bare butt. 

The four-time NBA Champ has been hyper-vigilant about his health lately, including a 40-pound weight loss in 2022. However, he still wants to lose another 20 pounds and told Entertainment Tonight he credits the shedding to a wake-up call after getting some bloodwork done.

“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 told ET.

“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.”

Twitter was initially worried about Shaq after the surgery but found his BBL joke hilarious and on brand. See the best reactions below.

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