Shaquille O'Neal Recovers From Surgery After Alarming Hospital Bed Photo

Publish date: 2024-05-07

On March 19, Shaquille O'Neal tweeted a photo of himself lying in a hospital bed. He wore a hospital gown and there were several cords connected to him including an IV. The Hall of Famer took time to shoutout his Turner Sports co-workers. "[I]'m always watching @TurnerSportsEJand @Candace_Parker miss y'all," he wrote alongside the snap where his eyes were closed. Without context, the photo understandably made some fans anxious about O'Neal's health, and questioned why he was hospitalized.

Fortunately, worries about O'Neal's health status were not completely necessary. That hospital visit was a scheduled one for the TNT analyst, as he underwent surgery on his hip. A day after the photo was posted, a source spoke to TMZ and confirmed the procedure was successful and O'Neal was "already on the mend." Prior to being admitted to the hospital, O'Neal had discussed the upcoming surgery on his "The Big Podcast with Shaq." He expected that going under the knife would keep him sidelined for about a month, and hoped to resume his on-air duties around April 16.

Almost two years earlier, the former Miami Heat big man was rushed to the hospital, albeit under much different circumstances. O'Neal was involved in an AEW tag team wrestling match in 2021. At one point, wrestler Cody Rhodes dove into the man they call Shaq Diesel, and slammed his body through a table. As part of the performance, O'Neal was carried out in a stretcher and placed in the back of an ambulance.

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