“My goal is, at 50, to take my shirt off one time, show the ladies how fine I am, and put it back on” - Shaquille O’Neal reveals his goal to lose weight

Shaquille O’Neal was one of the biggest stars in NBA history literally and figuratively, but the NBA legend is looking to lose some weight. O’Neal who is in the NBA Hall-of-Fame, stands at 7-feet 1-inches tall, and weighed around 325 pounds while playing in the NBA.

Over his 19-year career, O'Neal earned the nickname "Diesel" because he bullied people and would go straight through defenders on his way to the basket, without anybody being able to do much about it. For his career, he averaged 23.7 points and 10.9 rebounds on his way to four NBA titles, three Finals MVPs, 15 All-Stars, 14 All-NBA selections, and one regular-season MVP.

In a recent interview with Men’s Health, Shaquille O’Neal talked about his post-NBA work-out habits and how he is trying to stay fit. During the interview, he quipped:

“My goal is, at 50, to take my shirt off one time, show the ladies how fine I am, and put it back on.”

O’Neal went into greater detail about his transition to a more healthy lifestyle, saying that a big part of the shift was his doctor asking him, “Do you want to die?”, speaking in regards to his apparent weight gain during the Covid pandemic.

While in the NBA, O’Neal's diet consisted of two club sandwiches, fries, and a pineapple soda, which certainly isn't the healthiest in-season meal.

Somehow, O'Neal was still able to dominate on a consistent basis without really taking care of his body, which makes you wonder just how great he could have been if he did.

How dominant was Shaquille O’Neal?

Shaquille O’Neal at a Los Angeles Lakers game

Shaquille O’Neal might be one of the most physically imposing NBA players of all time. He was so good that the best way to stop him from taking over an entire game was to foul him, leading to the phrase “Hack-a-Shaq” being born.

O’Neal was not a great free-throw shooter, which is why teams made an effort to foul him and send him to the line repeatedly, an easy choice to make compared to letting him just catch the ball down low to score at will.

His most dominant years were while he was on the Orlando Magic and Los Angeles Lakers, even though he was two seemingly two different players. Magic O’Neal could efficiently run up and down the court, playing in transition and using his athleticism. Meanwhile, the Lakers' and even more so the Miami Heat version of O’Neal, was a lot bigger and used his physical presence to get into the paint.

Shaquille O'Neal is a former NBA great turned NBA analyst with a larger than life personality and is adored by basketball fans around the world. So it is good to hear that he is making a concerted effort to look after his body.