Shaquille O'Neal Denies He's In Viral PDA Photo With Woman

Social media detectives can relax ... Shaquille O'Neal says he is NOT the man in the PDA photo making the rounds all over the internet Tuesday.

If you haven't seen it yet ... the selfie was posted by Maria Ozuna Teachey to her 200K-plus followers on Instagram earlier this week -- and it featured her in front of a mirror with a large man's arms wrapped around her.

Because of the dude's size, many believed it was the Big Diesel -- after all, the dude appeared super tall and really buff -- and he seemingly had big hands and feet as well.

But, the 7-foot-1 NBA Hall of Famer quickly shut down the speculation hours ago ... writing on WorldStar's IG page he's "not the kid."

Maria -- who describes herself as a video creator -- didn't respond to all the attention ... but she did remove the photo from her IG.

Of course, this isn't the first time Shaq's been namedropped in dating rumors ... remember when he was seen out with Brittany Renner at dinner last year? Many thought they, too, were an item, but TMZ Sports confirmed they were nothing more than long-time friends.

O'Neal has only been married once ... to TV personality and producer Shaunie O'Neal . They divorced in 2011.

The 52-year-old has been in several relationships since, including one with Laticia Rolle and another with reality star Nicole 'Hoopz' Alexander .

But, it seems like big ol' Shaq is still an eligible bachelor!