Shaquille O’Neal has been accused of ‘lying’ after the NBA legend denied he was the man at the center of a viral photo.
On Tuesday, influencer Maria Ozuna Teachey posted a picture with a man and invited fans to guess who she was with.
The man in the image towers over Teachey and has his hands over her breasts. His face is hidden from view. ‘Can y’all guess who(se) feet? #loveyou’ she wrote in the caption.
NBA fans immediately claimed it was O’Neal, believing they had discovered his secret new relationship.
But the 7ft 1in icon poured cold water on the accusations, writing on Instagram: ‘Nope not the kid’.
NBA fans believed they had unmasked the new girlfriend of Lakers icon Shaquille O’Neal
‘Shaq think we can’t see him,’ one user wrote on social media after the picture emerged
Teachey reportedly posted a cryptic update which appeared to dispute O’Neal’s denial
He also posted a number of pictures which showed him striking the same pose as the man in the viral photo.
‘Trust me I’ll let yall know who my woman is, and by the way my woman name is Shaqrah,’ O’Neal wrote.
But Teachey – who has more than 200,000 followers on Instagram – reportedly posted a cryptic update which appeared to dispute O’Neal’s denial.
In a screenshot of a caption – which no longer appears on her Instagram page but was released by The Shade Room – the influencer wrote: ‘Come on Kid, a time was had. Why he lie to yall (sic) man… I’m done.’
Shaq is now a popular NBA analyst and fans enjoyed poking fun at the former Lakers star after the image first emerged.
‘Shaq think we can’t see him,’ one user wrote on social media. ‘Shaq and his new girlfriend’ another added.
Maria Ozuna Teachey, who has more than 200,000 followers on Instagram, posted the picture
The NBA legend was quick to shut the rumors of a new relationship down in an Instagram post