NBA legend Shaquille O'Neal has responded to suggestions that he's dating adult content star Sophie Rain.
The 53-year-old may be best known by sports fans for his time playing for the Los Angeles Lakers and Miami Heat, but the rest of the world knows Shaq for his numerous adverts, occasional movie cameos and online persona.
But the basketball icon was recently in headlines for something completely unrelated, as he was snapped partying with OnlyFans top earner Sophie Rain last weekend, for her 21st birthday.
The four-time NBA champion didn't hold back when he was questioned about the now viral image, which was taken on a night when he was DJing at Encore Beach Club in Las Vegas.
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Shaq, who has released five albums so far in his career and most recently put out 'Gorilla Warfare' under his DJ moniker 'DIESEL', has been performing at venues across North America in recent weeks.
A photo of Rain sitting on Shaq's lap while flipping the camera off has done the rounds on social media, leading to a heated response from the three-time NBA Finals MVP.
TikToker Noah Glenn Carter, who is known for reporting online news, stated that 'people aren't happy' with Shaq's appearance at Rain's birthday party.
Carter brought up past comments the former basketball star made about WNBA player Angel Reese's shorts on her podcast, while claiming that he is 'known to date 21 to 22-year-olds', describing his appearance at Rain's party as 'uncomfy feeling'.
Well, the ever-transparent Shaq took to the comments section on Instagram, writing: “I don’t daw[date] that young but I will date your mom and give u a brother.”
In response, the content creator replied: “My mom said no.”
It was further alleged by TMZ that Shaq deleted a comment which explained he was DJing at the club and she happened to be there, saying: "Stop tryna create rumors don't make me slap you dude."
He even wrote: "Your mom is hot tell her to hit me on my sky tell pager," which Carter read out to his mum over the phone for a follow-up video, with the grandmother-of-12 saying that it 'made her day' that someone thought she was 'hot'.
Videos of the OnlyFans star dancing in the DJ booth with Shaq also circulated, as she wrote online: “I met Shaq in Vegas and he brought me on stage!!! So so cool!!!”
The official Encore Beach Club Instagram even posted snaps from the party, which included shots of 'The Big Aristotle' on the discs, captioning it 'HBD Sophie'.
Shaq, who is now an analyst on 'Inside the NBA', has been performing sets at Encore since 2019.
Speaking to Where Is The Buzz, Rain claimed: “I did not think my 21st would go this way. Shaq was so gracious, so real. He made me feel like I was the centre of attention, which is crazy to say because it was my birthday.”
“We are just friends, haha!" she added. "He reached out to me after and was like damn, we are famous, haha.
"I don’t know why people think we are dating."
Topics: Celebrity, OnlyFans, Social Media, Sport, Sex and Relationships
Joshua Nair