Fans warn Shaquille O’Neal after he was caught lusting after 24-year-old Ice Spice

A month after NBA star Shaquille O’Neal shared a snapshot of himself, Ice Spice, Taylor Swift and friends on the Super Bowl, the NBA legend has finally spoken out about his viral comments in regards to the rising New York rapper.

Shaq praised her within the post, saying the 24-year-old felt “damn great.” Critics have since branded the daddy of six a grimy old man, declaring the age difference between him and the Bronx star, who’s younger than his eldest child.

After rubbing his elbows post-game with a “Shake It Off” feeling, the basketball luminary shared his encounter on social media the subsequent day. The 52-year-old expressed his excitement about meeting the “Munch” rapper and captured the moment on Instagram where he stood next to Ice Spice producer Riot and Jamie Salter, the founding father of Authentic Brands Group, which acquired Reebok in March 2022.

Shaq and Salter have knowledgeable bond; Salter named the player because the newly appointed president of Reebok basketball. Shaq is the second-largest individual shareholder of Authentic Brands Group.

The two gifted Swift an NFL Judith Lieber bag, but that wasn’t what caused a storm on social media. He said the identical thing in post this made people do a double take.

“Uncle smokes durk and gurk, this caption is disgusting,” wrote one person under the photo, and one other wrote: “Shaq hungry.”

Many people online joked that Shaq will need to have been “hacked”, believing there was no way he could have written such words. Either way, Ice Spice approved and liked the post.

The athlete-turned-podcast host confirmed that he wasn’t hacked on the most recent episode of “The Big Podcast with Shaq.”

“The reason I posted with Ice Spice wasn’t because I was trying to flirt, but I wasn’t really letting her down, but I just wanted to show her some respect as well,” Shaq explained on the most recent episode of “The Great Podcast with Shaq.”

He shared that Jason Kelce, the brother of Swift’s boyfriend Travis Kelce, helped introduce him to the pop star. A representative for the Hall of Famer said he left his suite and went to Swift during a break to bring her a bag when he saw the young rapper. He said the photo and caption were his way of showing her “some respect.”

“So me and my partner Jamie Salter… we go downstairs, I take a photo and I see her. By the way, Ice Spice is okay. She’s really hot. So I took a photo and came back. She was nice, very nice.”

He continued: “I just did it really fast. I asked her and said, “Have we ever met before?” She said no.’ And then the explanation I posted with Ice Spice, and it wasn’t because I was attempting to flirt. I didn’t really blow her off, but I also wanted to point out her some respect.

The 6-foot-7 athlete said there was a lot discussion about his encounter with the “Love Story” singer that he didn’t want Ice Spice overlooked of the discussion.

“So I had to come back and say, ‘Oh yeah, and by the way, that little woman is OK too,'” he explained, insisting he wasn’t attempting to pressure her. “You have to understand that Shaq doesn’t do that, I don’t flirt like that.”

People didn’t like this answer, declaring that he was attempting to send the redhead a bat signal, hoping she would turn to him.

“A chick your kids’ age and that’s your final answer, Shaq!!” one person said, while another person warned: “Shaq, you’re starting to look like Diddy Man, you better leave the young bucks alone.”

“Respect? no, you wanted some Annie and that’s fine! She’s fine,” we read in one other comment.

User X wondered why people were so shocked by the athlete’s achievements: “It’s not latest, though about Shaq. He’s big now – he’s talking about Ice Spice, okay – this big guy really needs something significant. All you young girls, find your wife now, otherwise you should have much less money to support yourself.

He was often seen with young faces on DMs or shouted out with beautiful young faces, and when people called him out, he claimed it was only a friendly gesture.

In June 2023, he was seen dining with fitness influencer Brittany Renner. A couple of days later, when a Christian influencer nicknamed “The Home Depot Girl” went viral on the web for being too pretty to work at the shop and allegedly needed to quit resulting from all the eye, Shaq DM’d her and she or he offered her some support. However, many thought he was attempting to flirt after she posted his words of encouragement on social media.

“Don’t let these people bother you,” O’Neal wrote. After she replied, “Thank you,” he added, “Don’t read the comments, stuff like that drives you crazy. Have a pleasant day, tell all of your guys I said hello, lol.

Shaq also recently made headlines after opening up about dating rules for his daughters, girls Taahira, Amirah and Me’arah, ages 27, 22 and 17, respectively. The NBA Hall of Famer is not going to allow his daughters to this point until they’re champions and are 24 years old. However, the principles are completely different for his sons, Myles (26), Shareef (24) and Shaqir (20).

If Ice Spice were Shaq’s daughter, by his logic she would only be partially pure. She is 24 years old but has not accomplished higher education.