Shaquille O’Neal has addressed claims by fans that he is the secret new boyfriend of influencer Maria Ozuna Teachey.
Earlier on Tuesday Teachey, who has more than 200,000 followers on Instagram, posted a picture on social media inviting fans to guess who she is with.
The man in the picture towers over her and has his hands over her breasts. His face is hidden from view. ‘Can y’all guess who(se) feet? #loveyou’ Teachey wrote as a caption.
The picture has been deleted from her Instagram account but remains on her Facebook and NBA supporters didn’t need an invitation to speculate that it is the 7ft 1ins star.
‘Shaq think we can’t see him,’ one user wrote on social media. ‘Shaq and his new girlfriend’ another added.
NBA fans believe they have unmasked the new girlfriend of Lakers icon Shaquille O’Neal
‘Shaq think we can’t see him,’ one user wrote on social media after the picture emerged
Maria Ozuna Teachey, who has more than 200,000 followers on Instagram, posted the picture
The NBA legend was quick to shut the rumors of a new relationship down in an Instagram post
‘Shaq ain’t got no shame,’ a third wrote alongside the picture, in a post that has now been viewed more than 14million times.
But the NBA legend quickly denied it was him in the picture, writing on Instagram: ‘Nope not the kid’.
He also posted a number of pictures striking the same pose as the man in the photo with Teachey.
He commented: ‘Is this my girlfriend to, trust me I’ll let yall know who my woman is, and by the way my woman name is Shaqrah.’
O’Neal’s feet went viral earlier this year after the former NBA star revealed he spends four-figure sums on pedicures.
‘I give about $1,000 because I know my feet stink, I know they’re ugly, and I like to paint them,’ he said earlier this year.
‘I paint that s*** because it’s ugly and I want it to look pretty,’ he continued, adding that he likes having ‘sparkles and designs’ on his feet.
Shaq is now a popular analyst and last week he sparked a public sparring session with ‘NBA on TNT’ colleague Charles Barkley over criticism of Caitlin Clark.
The former Lakers center even paints his toenails, and said he likes ‘designs’ on his feet
Clark, the No 1 overall pick in the WNBA draft, has fueled a huge rise in popularity in women’s basketball.
O’Neal said Barkley’s defense of Clark does not do her any favors.
‘Loudmouths like Chuck are talking about hating… it’s not hating. It’s like, (Clark is) good but let’s slow it down a notch,’ O’Neal told USA Today.
‘As good as Caitlin Clark is, we’ve had a lot of young ladies who have been doing good (before) and not getting props.
‘People like props and they want to feel good when you’re talking about (their league)… it’s not hating. Everybody has to wait their turn.’