The retired NBA megastar shares how the drug has helped treat his sleep apnea and support his busier-than-ever schedule.
ByNick Remsen
June 10, 2026
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Shaquille O'Neal.Photo courtesy of Lilly.
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Shaquille O’Neal—the retired NBA megastar, entrepreneur, commentator, student and much more—is on one.
At 54-years-old, he is maybe the busiest he’s ever been: O’Neal is launching Dunkman this summer, which is the world’s first-ever professional dunking league. He’s doing more work with his signature Shaq line at Reebok. And trying for a Master’s Degree in Criminology from Sacramento State (after just receiving a Master’s in Liberal Arts from Louisiana State University). What might that look like once achieved? “I may go to law school or maybe become a chief or sheriff somewhere,” O’Neal says.
As a way of supporting this very full life, O’Neal’s also recently began taking the GLP-1 Zepbound. He joins the ranks of a number of high-profile athletes who are publicly promoting GLP-1s. Serena Williams and Charles Barkley (O’Neal’s co-presenter at the Finals) have publicly shared their experience using GLP-1s from the company Ro. During the Olympics, Simone Biles joined Eli Lilly as an advocate for obesity treatment and the reduction of GLP-1 stigma. And early this year Tom Brady signed on with eMed, a digital provider that primarily focuses on prescribing GLP-1s. The GLP-1-as-weight management drug treatment has been in place for a while now, yet it has also been proven to help other health issues, ranging from their original purpose as a treatment tool for Type 2 Diabetes to effectively reducing the severity of OSA (Obstructive Sleep Apnea).
As it happens, Zepbound addresses obesity and OSA specifically. O’Neal is taking the drug for the latter; he 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.
“You know, I chose to share my experience because OSA is a serious but often overlooked condition,” O’Neal says. “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.” O’Neal decided to take Zepbound because of this very sense of self-preservation; wanting improved energy, better sleep and a sharper mind. (Even so, as one person on X suggested during Monday’s onscreen broadcast, he couldn’t help but be distracted by Cardi B’s “Bodega Baddie” halftime performance in Game 3).
Alongside starting Zepbound, O’Neal says he has increasingly “made lifestyle changes,” and is “eating right and staying active with a lot of walking.” (In 2022, he told us that his fitness regimen is “just cardio—30-40 minutes—then chest, arms, biceps, triceps. A simple old man workout. I can't do all that CrossFit stuff.” The man is honest.)
I ask him if any indulgences remain. Maybe a favorite big meal, maybe a cigarette. He says, shrewdly: “my Shaq-a-Licious gummies. They’re the number one gummy in the world. I’ve sold over 20 million bags.” I’m unfamiliar with them, and ask if they’re weed gummies. My scolding is prompt. “Dude, no! Before I do THC, I’ll be walkin’ around here in some braids looking crazy.” (Apologies, Shaq, for my lack of awareness.)
Beyond this new health shift, the NBA Finals—and Game 3 in particular—have been top of mind for the athlete. Until Monday night, the Knicks were up 2-0 over the Spurs—a position O’Neal himself was famously in against the Dallas Mavericks when he played center for the Miami Heat in 2006. He was pivotal in helping that team then win four games in a row to clinch the championship, a first at the time for the Magic City. “That was me, baby,” he said, smiling.
But he thinks the 2026 contest is too close to call just yet. “You got a young team against an even younger team,” he says. “I think if the Knicks won [Game 3], the city would have been crazy. But now it’s 2-1, so they’ve got to get more focused, and Wednesday is the big ‘if’ day. If the Spurs win, it’s an uh-oh moment. It’s the worst feeling having it and seeing it and not being able to get it done. I’ve had that many times in my career.”