Shaquille O'Neal Responds to Ex-Wife Shaunie Henderson, Who Questioned Whether She Was 'In Love' With Him

Shaunie Henderson is opening up about her seven-year marriage to Shaquille O'Neal in a new book.

By Brenda Alexander

Shaunie Henderson is opening up about what she was going through while married to NBA champion, Shaquille "Shaq" O'Neal. The former Laker player's infidelities and how his indiscretions impacted his marriage have been widely reported. They've since established a cordial co-parenting relationship for their five children, and Shaq has been open about his regrets about how he treated Shaunie. Now, she's getting real about her feelings, or lack thereof, that could have contributed to their marital discord. 

In a new book, Undefeated: Changing the Rules and Winning on My Own Terms, Shaunie questions whether she ever truly was in love with Shaq. "Looking back, I don't know that I was ever really in love with the man, but I was in love with the idea of being married to the man I had a family with," she wrote, as reported by ESSENCE. "I was in love with the idea of building a life together. I truly did enjoy spending time with him. [NBA] road trips allowed me to be with my husband and experience the NBA life for a little while."

Shaunie says even when Shaq wasn't working, he was constantly disappearing. "Our chef did all the grocery shopping. His managers paid all the bills. I took care of the kids. So where was he going in the morning, during the day, and at night? No one works out that often," she wrote.

She now doesn't believe her ex had ill intentions and that he was instead ill-equipped to handle his life throughout their seven-year marriage. "He was trying to be a world-famous, thirty-something multimillionaire with thousands of women throwing themselves at him, and people in general begging just to be in his presence, while being a husband and a father simultaneously," she wrote. "How could anyone possibly know how to do that?"

Now, Shaq is responding. In an Instagram post, he wrote: "I understand…I wouldn't have been in love with me either. Wishing you all the best. All love, Shaq." 

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The two divorced in 2011. Shaunie took her pain and transformed it into a reality television powerhouse as the creator and executive producer, and sometimes star, of VH1's Basketball Wives. It's unclear if the exes remain friendly. But Shaq understands his indiscretions.

"Shaunie was also a perfect woman, and I messed it up," he said in 2022, per Fox News, "We were young and always just doing dumb stuff. But, the good thing about our relationship is that they forgave me, and we have a good relationship now. "Sometimes when you live that double life, you get caught up," he added. "I'm not going to say it was her. It was all me."

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