NBA great Shaquille O’Neal has been forced to deny sending rancid DMs to Sabrina Carpenter on Instagram.
A screenshot allegedly showing the Los Angeles Lakers star, 54, trying his luck with the singer and actress, 26, went viral on social media and prompted O’Neal to debunk the rumors on his podcast.
He brought the issue up to his guest, the rapper Jim Jones, and said: ‘I want you to tell me if this is me or not me.’
Shaq then read one of the alleged messages, which was: ‘Damn, baby. I would keep your farts in a cologne bottle and spray it on me every day. Just jokes, I’m Shaq baby, what’s your name?’
Carpenter was then alleged to reply: ‘I know who you are, you’re way too famous to be sending me messages like that.’
O’Neal then read the remainder of the messages – the content of which got even more distasteful as they went on – before insisting it was just an unfortunate internet rumor.
Shaquille O’Neal has denied sending messages to Sabrina Carpenter on Instagram
The 7ft 1 NBA legend insisted the DMs were fake and that he had ‘more game than that’
‘Got way more game than that,’ O’Neal said, laughing.
Carpenter is believed to be single, with her last relationship being with Hollywood actor Barry Keoghan.
Shaq is believed to be single, too. He was married from 2002 to 2011 to wife Shaunie. They had four children together.
In his playing days, the 7ft 1 NBA star becaome a four-time NBA champion with titles won with the Lakers and the Miami Heat.
He also played for the Orlando Magic, the team that took him with the first pick of 1992 NBA Draft, the Phoenix Suns and Cleveland Cavaliers before rounding out his career with the Boston Celtics.
O’Neal recently made headlines for a far more constructive reason, too.
He offered to pay for the cost of a funeral for 12-year-old girl Jada West. She succumbed to a brain injury hours after she was involved in a street brawl in Villa Rica, just outside of Atlanta, earlier this month.
Following her tragic passing, former NBA superstar O’Neal said he doesn’t want West’s family to deal with the financial burden of a funeral while grieving for the sixth grader, who died at a hospital on March 8.
‘As a father, my heart goes out to Jada’s family. No parent should ever have to bury their child, and if there is anything I can do to ease even a small part of that burden, then it is the right thing to do,’ he said in a statement.
‘Our community must surround this family with love, support, and compassion during such a painful moment.’
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