Shaquille O'Neal sparked concern after sharing a photo of himself in a hospital bed on Sunday ... but TMZ Sports has learned the NBA legend simply needed to fix a nagging injury, and he's now doing OK.
Our sources tell us the 51-year-old went under the knife over the weekend to have an issue with his hip corrected -- and everything went according to plan. We're told he's already on the mend.
In a caption Shaq posted along with the photo -- he tagged his "NBA on TNT" colleagues, Ernie Johnson and Candace Parker, saying even though he couldn't be at work, he was still tuning in to the show.