Shaquille O’Neal had to go on national television with his natural hairline showing after he lost a bet to fellow former NBA star Dwyane Wade.
The legendary Los Angeles Lakers center debuted his new hairdo during the TNT pregame show Tuesday night ahead of the Boston Celtics versus Brooklyn Nets game.
He said he had bet Wade that the Milwaukee Bucks would beat the Miami Heat on Monday, but he clearly ended up losing that wager!
“I said, ‘Well, what do you want me to do? Pay you?’” O’Neal told his co-hosts. “He said, ‘Nah, you gotta let your hairline grow. We wanna see your hairline looking like Kenny Smith.’”
Kenny Smith is another former NBA player and broadcaster on TNT’s “Inside the NBA” with O’Neal and has been roasted for his hairline on the air at least a few times.
From what we can tell, O’Neal has been keeping his hair super short or shaving it all off for a long time. A deep dive into the photo archives shows he let his hair grow out in 2001 when he was photographed at media day for the Los Angeles Lakers.
For what it’s worth, people online seemed to think it was hilarious or that it didn’t really look that bad.
One of the most popular tweets just had a crying laughing emoji with close-up pictures of the new do.
Another said “Hairline in 1 mile” with an arrow emoji.
“This is what it’s like playing pro sports. Traveling the globe with a bunch of overgrown 5th graders — all with pockets full of money,” former NBA player Rex Chapman tweeted. “Best s--- ever.”
Other tweets used memes to tell O’Neal his hairline wasn’t as bad as Smith's like this one featuring Drake’s “Hotline Bling” video.
Others used a scene from the TV show “Blackish” to convey their disappointment.
Regardless, O'Neal seemed to take it all in stride.
“I look good, and I’m proud to do it,” the Hall of Famer said in the clip. “And I’m gonna keep it like this all week!”
