NBA legend Shaq details dramatic weight loss: 'I couldn't walk up the steps'

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Three-time NBA Finals MVP Shaquille O'Neal is making his health a priority.

O'Neal, who turned 51 this year, detailed his recent 55-pound weight loss. He now weighs 351 pounds, but he is still working to shed more weight.

"I'm probably gonna get between 315 and 330," the Los Angeles Lakers legend told "Entertainment Tonight," adding that he wants to eventually "have a 12-pack."

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TV analyst Shaquille O'Neal appears before Game 2 of the 2022 NBA Finals between the Golden State Warriors and the Boston Celtics at Chase Center in San Francisco on June 5, 2022. (Darren Yamashita/USA Today Sports)

"I’ve got a five-pack now, so I’ve got seven more packs to go because I want to take my shirt off on Instagram," O'Neal joked.

SHAQ PUTS 'OLD DUDES' ON NOTICE AS HE RETURNS TO THE GYM FOLLOWING HIP REPLACEMENT SURGERY

He noted that his struggle to walk up stairs prompted his recent weight loss journey.

"I was getting chubby and couldn’t even walk up the stairs. I didn’t like the way I looked in the mirror. I was like, 'I'm gonna lose 20,' and then I was trying to lose 20," he said.

O'Neal recently took to social media to share a video of his progress. An Instagram video showed the Pro Basketball Hall of Famer ripping off a tank top and flexing his muscles.

Shaquille O'Neal attends a game between the Houston Rockets and the Dallas Mavericks at Toyota Center in Houston on Dec. 23, 2022. (Carmen Mandato/Getty Images)

American bodybuilder Phil Heath was tagged in O'Neal's Instagram post. 

"In my former life, I was @philheath we almost there @rocshabazz that @novexbiotech #gf9 baby," Shaq wrote in the post.

O'Neal spoke to People magazine in March around the time he reached the 40-pound weight loss mark. He spoke about learning how to take his health more seriously following his retirement from the NBA.

Shaquille O'Neal attends a Shaq-A-Claus and Pepsi Stronger Together surprise for an Atlanta school with toys and treats in McDonough, Georgia, on Dec. 20, 2021. (Derek White/Getty Images for Pepsi Stronger Together)

"I wish I would've paid more attention to it. I was such a mental warrior that none of this stuff mattered to me," O'Neal said. "I didn't really take it seriously until I looked in the mirror six, seven years after I retired. I looked terrible. I had no definition and, basically, I was fat. I was really fat."

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O'Neal said he is still doing cardio multiple days a week in addition to weight training. He returned to the gym earlier this year following hip replacement surgery.

"bout to get my game back alll you old dudes that hoop in @24hrfitness @lafitness @lifetimefitness i’m coming for yall," he captioned a social media video of himself in a gym and walking with a crutch after the hip procedure.