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via Getty

Former basketball player Shaquille O’Neal had a formidable career with the NBA for over 19 years. Due to his 350+ pounds stature, however, he was more prone to foot injuries than any other basketball player. An Achilles injury he incurred during the final years of his career not only forced him to retire, but also left his feet in a condition that was perhaps unpleasant to look that.

This, however, has not stopped the four-time NBA champion from – or has perhaps led him to! – poking fun at the way the feet of other players look. A recent example is when O’Neal took to Instagram in order to expose James Harden and LeBron James.

O’Neal has feet problems

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Problems with his feet are something that have followed the former Los Angeles Lakers legend throughout his career. During the 2001-2002 season of the NBA, O’Neal developed problems with his right big toe but kept battling on during play. The situation worsened and he had to get surgery, which led him to miss 12 games during the 2002-2003 season.

The toe problem was a source of nuisance for the people he played alongside him as well. Teammate Kobe Bryant publicly talked about how he had earlier developed a feud with Shaq when the latter had to sit out 15 games due to another toe injury.

via Imago

Shaq opted out of 26 games from the 1st of February to the 3rd of April 2011 due to an inflamed right Achilles tendon. The Achilles tendon turned out to be the final nail in the coffin, forcing the Big Diesel to retire right after the season ended.

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Perhaps the post he shared now is a taunt at LeBron James amid his retirement rumors too!

An Instagram Reel shared by O’Neal pokes fun at LeBron Janes and James Harden

The now-TNT Analyst recently shared a Reel with his 31.1 million followers. The reel was made by an Instagram handle titled ‘soly.sports’ and featured the interviewer quizzing a few NBA fans, who were required to guess the player only by looking at their feet.

 

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A post shared by Soly (@soly.sports)

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While the fans were able to correctly guess LeBron James’ feet, they failed to guess Darrell Armstrong and James Harden’s. All the while, the fans couldn’t help but look in astonishment at the disfigured and bad condition of the athletes’ feet, with one of them commenting, “The toes look like they have been put onto the foot.”

The post gained traction after being shared by O’Neal. People in the comments section went on to discuss things related to LeBron James and James Harden, with one user asking, “James Harden is point guard??????” while another user commented, “Small price to pay for millions of dollars and an endless supply of IG/OF models.”

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In all probability, the reason for Shaquille to have shared the reel could have been nothing but a little bit of fun banter! What do you think about these athlete’s feet? Let us know in the comments!