O’Neal added: “To be brief, I’m not getting any younger. I just wanna stay young, beautiful and hot.”
In 2002, the former Los Angeles Lakers centre underwent big toe surgery, which removed bone spurs from his arthritic right big toe.
The 2.15m (7ft 1in) giant’s most recent surgery came in March 2023, when he had a significant hip replacement to fix chronic pain, caused by his large figure and high-impact playing.
At the time, O’Neal – who retired from basketball in 2011 – sparked confusion and concern when he shared a picture of himself in hospital to his Instagram account.
And he joked he underwent a Brazilian butt lift after his hip replacement.
He captioned the photo with: “To all the people who are concerned. First let me start off by saying thank you.
“And lastly i am fine. Just had to get some BBL work done aka #hipreplacement. but yes I am fine no need to worry.”
He joked about the Brazilian butt lift with a cheeky clip of his own backside in a pair of shorts, edited to pop in and out.
O’Neal’s surgery – which involved a titanium hip – has left him unable to dunk a basketball because he would “get hurt” and after the procedure, he returned to light gym sessions and focused on recovery.
In December 2022, the star revealed he shed almost three stone after he weighed over 23 stone, thanks to a new diet and exercise plan.
O’Neal – who takes supplements, drinks health shakes and has cut out fizzy drinks – explained: “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.
“He was saying, ‘You can do this, you can’t do that – [eat] more vegetables, [your] iron’s low.’
“Once I just started changing those certain things, it dropped. It’s all about eating right.”
