It’s no secret that fans believe Shaquille O’Neal, 52, has a thing for influencers. But the NBA legend is letting the world know he is not dating a Philadelphia content creator despite growing speculation they hooked up with following a viral photo.
An image of Maria Ozuna Teachey circulated on social media platforms on Monday, Sept. 16. The mirror selfie featured a tall man standing behind her who can be seen grabbing her breasts.
Teachey captioned the photo on her Facebook page, “Unapologetically us… Can y’all guess who feet? #loveyou.” She took down the post from Instagram post.
Social media users assumed Shaq was the mystery person in Teachey’s viral picture. However, he denied being in a relationship with the self-described video creator.
The photo made it to WorldStarHipHop’s Instagram page, where Shaq wrote, “Nope not the kid.”
The photo made it to WorldStarHipHop’s Instagram page, where Shaq wrote, “Nope not the kid.”
After Shaq’s denial, Teachey returned writing, “Come on Kid. A time was had. Why he lie to yall man. Yall have a great night.” She used the hashtags, “#playwithsomebodyelse #Filly #goatworthy #dontaskagain. I’m done.”
She followed up with a video of a paper that read, “Diesel” in capital on the letterhead. It states, “Shaquille, Welcome back to Harrah’s Atlantic City & The Pool. Looking forward to an awesome show.”
The Hall of Famer then went on a rampage sharing a video with images of him posing with different women similar to the way the man posed in Teachey’s picture.
“Is this my girlfriend too, trust me I’ll let y’all know who my woman is, and by the way my woman’s name is Shaqirah,” O’Neal captioned an Instagram post shared on Sept. 17.
In another post, the four-time NBA champion addressed the rumors by mouthing Denzel Washington’s infamous “King Kong” scene from “Training Day.” In the caption, Shaq said, “I will let y’all know when I’m in love.”
O’Neal then uploaded a video of himself performing a clothed striptease dance for media personality Alexa Leighton. He wrote, “My real girlfriend knows I’m a big Black exotic dancer.”
In the clip, Leighton says, “Hi, I’m Shaq’s girlfriend. And when I play this song, I can get anything I want,” before Chris Brown’s “Under The Influence” song started playing from her phone.
For her part, Maria Ozuna Teachey seemingly played down the gossip involving Shaquille O’Neal. On Sept. 17, she posted a video message to her 200,000 Instagram followers.
“It’s a new day. Let’s get to work. Don’t believe everything you see. Back to work,” Teachey stated in the clip. Many of the comments under her video focused on the Shaq rumors.
One person asked, “Anybody else came here for the Shaq comments?” Someone else added “Damn, Shaq broke your heart. Don’t believe everything you see. I guess you made it hot.”
O’Neal’s fans also had a lot to say about the discourse surrounding Teachey. For instance, an Instagram user commented, “Naw, Unc that was def a bedroom pic.”
Another person exclaimed, “One thing about Shaq, he’s not letting nobody apply pressure!”
The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Famer’s stripper routine garnered a lot of reactions as well. One of his followers joked, “Moving like you need some WD-40.”
Shaq’s connection to female influencers isn’t unheard of. In June of last year, he was spotted at dinner with fitness influencer Brittany Renner.
Ohkay! Brittany Renner stay where the ballers at! She was spotted out on a dinner date with the big baller, shot callahhh himself Shaquille O’Neal! Roomies what y’all think about this link up 👀? (📸: backgrid) pic.twitter.com/FdBom7IseE
— TheShadeRoom (@TheShadeRoom) June 7, 2023
Shortly afterward, rumors went rapid after he slid in to the DMs of Christian influencer Ariana Cossie, aka The Home Depot Girl, who went viral for a post she made about being “too pretty” for where she worked.
Many online felt she was being judgmental and some even shamefully suggested she does OnlyFans. After the backlash, she did receive some support. Cossie then shared a screenshot of her and Shaq’s exchange, where he told her not to “let them peopl bother u.” Cossie said, “Thank you Shaq!” and he replied, “Don’t read the comments stuff like that will drive u crazy have a great day tell all your boyfriends i said hello lol.”
Two months ago, he was seen partying in Nashville with viral sensation Hailey “Hawk Tauh” Welch, a Tennessee native who went viral giving a man-on-the-street interview where she explained what makes men go crazy in the bedroom.
The former Los Angeles Lakers player married Shaunie Nelson in December 2002. They finalized their divorce in 2011 after multiple incidents of infidelity on Shaq’s part. Though Shaunie cited irreconcilable differences for the breakup. She went on to marry Houston-based pastor Keion Henderson in May 2022.
After splitting with Shaunie following eight years of marriage, Shaq began dating reality television star Nicole “Hoopz” Alexander. The two date for three years and even got engaged before calling it quits in 2013. He also dated model and Blu Hazl founder Laticia Rolle.
The “Inside the NBA” analyst also has been rumored to have been involved with “Confessions of a Video Vixen” author Karrine “Superhead” Steffans, “Basketball Wives” alumna Laura Govan, and “Empire” actress Annie Ilonzeh.
