Shaquille O’Neal has been given many nicknames based on his physical appearance and now, “chocolate hulk” can be added to the list.
The former LA Lakers star showed off his buff body in an Instagram video of him as he flexed his muscles in different stances.
O’Neal’s “#THOTDADDYTHURSDAY” video, as described in his caption, reached over four million plays and had over 11,000 comments filled with thirsty women lusting after his transformative, hunky body.
“Ok Shaq looking like a chocolate hulk”
“I sat and watched the whole thing, okay chocolate!”
“Ain’t nothing like a chocolate man”
The basketball Hall of Famer made it his mission to shed some weight and turn any excess fat into muscle.
In a recent podcast with YouTuber Logan Paul, O’Neal discussed what inspired him to become a gym rat, as well as about his journey so far.
“I was looking at myself and I had that Charles Barkley retirement body. All right, I didn’t want my stomach over the belly anymore so I’m just like ‘Let me go ahead and get slim.’ ”
Since coming to this realization of wanting to uphold a healthier body, O’Neal has been working on his fitness and even revealed losing nearly 40 pounds.
“I was 401 pounds, now I’m 365. I’m trying to take it back to 345 and I want to have muscles everywhere and I want to do underwear [Fruit of the Looms] with my sons.”
O’Neal has also opened up about his struggle after being diagnosed with sleep apnea, a disorder in which a person’s brain does not send proper breathing signals. One of the main links to sleep apnea is weight gain.
In 2021, O’Neal was interviewed for Men’s Health where he discussed his weight gain during the 2020 COVID-19 lockdown, a period when he was 419 pounds. After taking a look at his figure, the then 49-year-old decided his newfound goal would be to “take a topless selfie for Instagram when he turns 50.”
It looks like O’Neal has found his groove, as he has upgraded from posting shirtless selfies to shirtless videos.
