Did NBA legend Shaquille O’Neal meet the famous girl from the “Hawk Tuah” meme?

Shaquille O’Neal, one of the NBA Hall of Famers with the strongest personality, has apparently stumbled upon the biggest meme on the Internet.

A video of a woman answering a sexually explicit question during a street interview with an exaggerated spitting noise — “Hawk Tuah,” as many on social media have dubbed it — has gone viral on TikTok in recent days. Now, a photo of O’Neal with Hailey Welch (the woman in the viral video) is making the rounds on social media.

O’Neal, known for a variety of comedic and viral moments, could step out of the spotlight after the 2025 NBA season. Next year will be the last of TNT’s Inside the NBA, making the legend’s future on television uncertain.

Here’s how O’Neal dealt with an NBA writer who questioned Michael Jordan’s 1988 DPOY Award:

O’Neal defended his friend Jordan on Saturday afternoon, telling Yahoo! Sports that Tom Haberstroh should stop belittling the NBA Defensive Player of the Year award that Jordan won in 1988.

Earlier this month, Haberstroh revealed that Jordan received preferential treatment in home games and that statisticians had inflated his defensive stats to make it appear he had accomplished more than he did. Jordan’s former teammate Scottie Pippen also made this claim in a passage in his book in 2021.

Shaq contradicted Haberstroh’s report during a segment of The Big Podcast with Shaq. However, O’Neal acknowledged that players are more likely to be given the benefit of the doubt in close calls at home.

“Unconfirmed. Did you see them watching the game? I don’t think so. It’s unconfirmed and it doesn’t matter. Do they give extra love at home? They do. But it doesn’t matter. It’s there, it’s documented. Let it be, it’s unconfirmed, yay,” O’Neal said. “You want to impress me, go back and change it. Let it be, it’s unconfirmed… What are you going to do, Mr. Statistician? What are you going to do? Now stop. Let it be.”

The allegations are perhaps the only blemish on Jordan’s career. He is often considered the best player in league history, having won titles in all six of his NBA Finals appearances. Jordan also holds the league’s highest scoring average (30.1) and has been named regular season MVP five times.

Anthony Pasciolla is a contributing writer for Back In The Day NBA. Reach him at [email protected] or follow him on X @anthonypasci.

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