Shaquille O’Neal has faced his share of health issues, and most of them were related to his carefree eating habits. But in 2011, the Big Aristotle received a reality check and was told to be aware of sleep apnea. The doctor told him he was staring death in the face. And that’s when Shaq realized the importance of a healthy lifestyle and has been raising awareness ever since.

“I chose to share my experience because OSA (Obstructive Sleep Apnea) is a serious but often overlooked condition,” O’Neal said to GQ. “I want to help people if I can, because I can remember, especially when I stopped playing, the snoring, the daytime tiredness, a lot of fatigue, and being unable to focus. So this is very personal to me.”

Shaq was diagnosed with OSA in 2011 when participating in a sleep medicine study at Harvard Medical School. This was just after retiring from the NBA. And it was back in 2022 in another conversation with GQ, where Shaq spoke about the doctor’s serious warning.

“Hey, man, you got sleep apnea,” Shaq recalled. “Sleep apnea can cause hypertension or strokes; you could die.”

Shaquille O’Neal recently began taking the GLP-1 Zepbound. It’s similar to his close friend, Charles Barkley’s, journey, who has publicly shared his experience with GLP-1s from the company Ro. GLP-1 has been used as a weight management drug treatment for some time now, which is FDA-approved. It has also been prescribed for treating Type 2 Diabetes to effectively reduce the severity of OSA.

So yes, Shaq is now taking the drug, especially for OSA. In fact, the Lakers legend has increasingly “made lifestyle changes,” and is “eating right and staying active with a lot of walking.” In another conversation with Healthline on Wednesday, Shaq admitted that initially, he had not taken the diagnosis seriously.

“[The doctors] told me the what and whatnots to do and talked about certain things, but I ignored it… because I thought I was superhuman,” he said.

The 54-year-old is managing multiple businesses, from Reebok and Gummies to Inside the NBA, and is even launching Dunkman this summer, which is the world’s first-ever professional dunking league. Naturally, the 4x NBA champion felt he could do more and more because that’s how he powered through his 19-year NBA career. But now the situation is different, and Shaq has accepted it and is being extra careful with his health.

Shaquille O’Neal embraced Charles Barkley’s weight loss methods

Usually, the two would end up bickering on any segment of Inside the NBA. But Chuck and Shaq have ultimate respect for each other. Over the years, even Charles Barkley had to undergo hip surgery, which led him to put on extra weight. But Sir Charles has gotten that under control.

“Shoutout to my doctors at Ro.co,” Barkley said, referring to the telehealth company that prescribes GLP-1 medication. “I’m working out too now. You’ve got to work out. You can’t just take a shot.”

The Hall of Famer has been open about his health journey for years. Back in 2023, he revealed that his doctor gave him a wake-up call that inspired the transformation.

“My doctor told me I was fat,” Barkley recalled. “She said, ‘There [are] no fat old people, only fat young people. If you don’t get this stuff together, you’re not gonna be around.’”

Just as the thought of death motivated Shaquille O’Neal to get fit, it did the same for Barkley, pushing him to make serious lifestyle changes. That’s why O’Neal, a few months ago, said, “Chuck was fat last year,” Shaq declared mid-show, grinning from ear to ear. “Now look at him. He’s a s** symbol.”

Seeing what Barkley went through, even O’Neal is now focusing on his health journey.