Shaq loves Hoopz?

While we’ve been on vacation, the rumors have been swirling about Shaq and Hoopz for the past few weeks. Now, TMZ and bloggers are writing that Shaq has proposed to our girl, Nikki! Check out the story from Stltodaycom:

Owner Sam David said he and his wife, Majdolin David, were about to close up when the unmistakable Shaq showed up with a party of four – three women and another man.

“I think he may have proposed to his girlfriend,” Sam David said today. “He brought a chair into the middle of the dance floor and he put a ring on her finger.”

David said he did not know the name of the woman who was with Shaq, nor of any of the others in the new Boston Celtics center’s entourage.

TMZ identified the lady as Hoopz, Nicole Alexander, and the next morning the couple ate at the Waffle House. He even was pranked there:

Sources at the Waffle House — yeah, we got those too — tell us Shaq arrived with Hoopz from the VH1 reality show “Flavor of Love” … and they both saddled up at the counter.

We’re told they each ordered scrambled eggs with cheese and a waffle — and Shaq had an orange juice … an OJ that would play a key role in the prank when Shaq got up to use the bathroom.

We’re told Hoopz pulled the ‘ol “Dump the salt in the OJ” routine — and when Shaq returned from the can, he took a big, fat sip of the tainted concoction. We’re told everybody laughed at the gag … including the big man.

But the best part of the meal — when it came time to pay the $20 bill … Shaq left a $30 tip.

Hello Beautiful had this to confirm the relationship:

Sources say Shaq, who was in the Gateway City to play in a charity golf tournament, has been keeping company with Hoopz, a former contestant on the VH1 reality show “I Love Money,” for a few months.

Shaq is freshly divorced and Hoopz may be upset that T.I. actually married Tiny. We shall wait and see how both rebounding phenoms cope with their love relationship.