Source: Manny Hernandez / Getty
At 7-foot-1 and 324 pounds, Shaquille O’Neal requires an impressive amount of food to fuel his body. During the pandemic, the retired NBA champ’s weight even ballooned past 400 pounds, so he decided to get serious about his health.
Thanks to the change, the Big Diesel ramped up his workouts and dropped 50 pounds. But as he told comedian Rip Micheals on the latest episode of Urban Eats & Treats, Shaq also loves to visit The Slutty Vegan, a popular Black-owned eatery based in Atlanta, GA, and known for its plant-based burgers and other dishes made from Impossible Meats.
“My friend [music executive Chaka Zulu] introduced me to this place, and it’s healthy,” Shaq said. “For example, I like cheeseburgers, right. But the way [founder Pinky Cole] cooks it, I can eat healthy, but still feel like I’m eating bad.”
O’Neal appears to really enjoy the restaurant’s Hussy Fussy burgers. Topped with lettuce, vegan cheese, onions, and their special “Slut Sauce on a vegan Hawaiian bun,” the big man was caught on video scarfing down a pair of them three years ago. And Slutty Vegan posted the clip to their Facebook page for the world to see how much of a good time Shaq was having.
“It’s good,” O’Neal said, giving the burger a massive thumbs up in 2019. “It ain’t meat? What is it?” Shaq asked.
And the camera operator replied with a simple answer: “It’s love.”
But as much as the Big Aristotle loves to eat, and even with his recently released first cookbook ever, he himself doesn’t like to cook. “I’m fortunate to have a chef,” he told Micheals. “My mother lives around the corner. So it’s fried chicken [and] macaroni. My sister lives around the corner, she cooks for me, too, but I haven’t had to cook in a while.”
Check the rest of the clip above to learn what Shaq does around the house instead of cooking. And learn more about his healthier eating habits — as well as the one food that O’Neal doesn’t mind cooking — by watching the full episode of Urban Eats & Treats and clicking here.
