Former NBA star Shawn Bradley made a rare public appearance after a bicycle accident left him paralyzed in 2021.
Video uploaded to X (Twitter) shows Bradley chatting with NBA legend Shaquille O’Neal at a BIG3 Week 10 event in Dallas. Shaq posed with Bradley and his wife at the event.
Bradley, 53, was the No. 2 overall draft pick by the Philadelphia 76ers in 1993. The 7-ft-6 center played in the NBA for 12 years. He retired in 2005 after playing 7 seasons with the Dallas Mavericks.
Shaq & Shawn Bradley at the BIG3 pic.twitter.com/LpS7NE9yMC
— Ballislife.com (@Ballislife) August 17, 2025
On January 20, 2021, Bradley was riding his bicycle near his home in St. George, Utah, when he was struck from behind by a motorist. He suffered a spinal cord injury in his neck that left him paralyzed from the neck down.
In 2022, Bradley and his family moved into a wheelchair-friendly home in Dallas, Texas, while he continued his rehabilitation.
In an August 2023 interview with KSL.com, the Bradleys said they forgave the driver.
“I can move my hand and that’s great, I shouldn’t be able to that, but there is no strength in it,” Bradley said at the time.
Bradley has improved and recovered movement in his hands and arms. He went from being a quadriplegic (no movement from the neck down after the accident) to being a paraplegic (movement above the waist).
During his playing days, Bradley had a role in Michael Jordan’s film Space Jam in 1996. He also had a cameo role as an auto mechanic in The Singles Ward movie.
