“I Love You Pops”: As Shaquille O’Neal’s TNT Night Turns Emotional, Daughter Taahirah Pens Heartwarming Message

NBA legend Shaquille O’Neal is probably on Cloud 9 at the moment. Almost 28 years after his journey with the Orlando Magic came to an end, the Big Aristotle is being bestowed a huge honor by his former team. As Shaq is basking in the glory of his recent accomplishment, various people, including his kids, are turning in to share their admiration for the 51-year-old.

The Magic are set to retire Shaq’s iconic No 32 jersey, making him the first player in franchise history to be bestowed with this honor.

Taahirah O’Neal congratulates her father via social media

Shaquille O’Neal’s 27-year-old daughter, Taahirah, took to Instagram to share a story with her 18700 followers. She featured the post made by the official Instagram page of the Orlando Magic, highlighting that Shaq’s Jersey Retirement ceremony is set to take place on February 13, 2024. In order to express her happiness and excitement over this news, Taahirah wrote a caption alongside the highlighted post, which read: “Nobody deserves it more than you. I love you Pops.”

Taahirah is the only daughter of Shaq from his previous relationship with ex-girlfriend Arnetta Yardbourgh. Unlike her step-siblings Shareef and Me’arah O’Neal, the 27-year-old hasn’t taken much of a liking towards basketball.

However, Taahirah continues to maintain the spotlight through her work with Shaq’s Big Chicken franchise and often accompanying the NBA legend at various events. She recently made headlines as she was seen hyping up her father’s DJ performance during New Year’s Eve.

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Nevertheless, Shaquille O’Neal becoming the first Orlando Magic player to have his jersey retired is a historic moment, and the NBA legend’s TNT crew wanted to ensure that they delivered the news to him in all the pomp and splendor.

Shaquille O’Neal expressed his gratitude as his jersey retirement was announced live on air

The news was delivered to the Big Aristotle through a video call by Magic president Alex Martins during Thursday’s ‘Inside the NBA’ show. Shaq’s co-hosts Charles Barkley, Kenny Smith, and Ernie Johnson clapped and shared their excitement as blue confetti dropped and the Superman theme blared in the background. Furthermore, the crew gave Shaq another surprise when they showed a video message left for him by his 69-year-old mother, Lucille O’Neal.

“Of course, this is your No. 1 fan saying congratulations to you,” said Lucille during the message. “We were all so happy for you as well as excited, and I had to tell you, you made us all proud with all of that joy and excitement you brought to the Orlando community.”

Both the moments filled the 4x NBA champion with gratitude. He expressed his thanks to the DeVos family for all the years he spent with his first NBA franchise. O’Neal said, “It was a great four years there. I just wanted to come in and make a name for myself.”

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