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Lakers Legend, 53, Drops Final Update on Hacking Incident

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | By Angelo Guinhawa | Last updated Jul 12, 2025 12:11 AM ET

Los Angeles Lakers icon Shaquille O'Neal was an unstoppable force during his heyday in the NBA. In 19 years in the league, he averaged 23.7 points, 10.9 rebounds and 2.3 blocks per game.

O'Neal was so dominant that teams leaned on the Hack-a-Shaq strategy to slow him down. The tactic basically revolved around intentionally fouling the NBA great so he wouldn't get any easy scores. Considering that O'Neal was a career 52.7% shooter from the free throw line, it was definitely a logical strategy.

On Friday, however, Hack-a-Shaq took on a different meaning.

O'Neal was literally hacked, with the former NBA MVP apparently losing access to his Instagram account. According to a Marca report, the hackers shared multiple posts about cryptocurrency and other misleading information and fake promises, hoping to take advantage of Shaq's 35.1 million followers.

Fortunately, O'Neal was able to regain access to his Instagram. On his IG Stories, he wrote, "Account secured."

Shaq revealed that he has gotten his Instagram back after being hacked. pic.twitter.com/TOadkVnUaH
— Kit Espina (@KeithEspino22) July 12, 2025

Interestingly, the 53-year-old former basketball player also sent a warning to his hackers, sharing on X that he's going to find them and make them pay for their actions.

O'Neal posted a GIF from the popular movie "Taken," where Liam Neeson's character sent an iconic message to kidnappers, per IMDb.

The message states: "I don't know who you are. I don't know what you want. If you are looking for ransom, I can tell you I don't have money. But what I do have are a very particular set of skills, skills I have acquired over a very long career. Skills that make me a nightmare for people like you. If you let my daughter go now, that'll be the end of it. I will not look for you, I will not pursue you. But if you don't, I will look for you, I will find you, and I will kill you."

It will be interesting to see what O'Neal does next after the incident, but one thing is sure: he's not happy that his privacy was compromised.

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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