Shaq humbly responded to the line in his ex-wife Shaunie Henderson’s memoir in which she questioned whether she was ever truly “in love” with him.
In her book, “UNDEFEATED: Changing the Rules and Winning on My Own Terms” that was released on May 7, she wrote, “Looking back, I don’t know that I was ever really in love with the man.”
Henderson and Shaq separated in 2009 after a course of infidelity that Shaq admitted to in his own memoir released in 2011, “Shaq Uncut: My Story.”
Prior to the release of her memoir, Henderson told People that she was “nervous” to publicly write about Shaq because anything involving him is “always a sketchy thing because of who he is.” But, at the end of the day, she deemed it was important to “share this journey” and give some clarity against the “misconception” of her.
But after experiencing a ton of social media backlash, Shaunie refused to let that be that. She’s pimping all of the FREE attention for everything it’s worth. On Friday, Henderson cleared the air over the quote to People, saying it was “taken out of context.”
“My book is my truth, and when I was talking to my friend yesterday, I was like, developing an opinion and a comment from content with no context will show you a lot of people’s intelligence and unintelligence, right?” she said. “There was no context to just that one quote that I said, and I think that sadly, people are taking my words out of context.”
“When you love somebody, you love somebody, but to be in love with somebody is a different feeling, and I will be honest, I didn’t realize that until I found the love of my life right now and I’m in this marriage,” she said. “I’m like, oh my gosh. It’s a different feeling.”
Fans once again responded with distaste:
“So she tells her children she shares with Shaq, I never was in love with your father. She is also a so-called First Lady of a Church with her current husband. She owes Shaq everything, unfortunately she has no self-respect, or respect for her children or ex-husband who put her on the map and afford…
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“She wanted to sell books so she said something noteworthy about the famous guy without whom she would be working as a waitress at Dennys. She doesn’t care about her children”
What Shaunie is experiencing is what I know about most people in relationships. They don’t really know what REAL LOVE is because they’ve never experienced it. I usually see this behavior in men. Which is why they go from woman to woman. They are unknowingly searching for this feeling of love. Which is why ultimately people say “commit to the relationship, not the person.” It’s the only way for most to stay together because they ether don’t feel real love or don’t have the tools to maintain that love.
Shaunie I’m sure tried to love Shaq. But the cheating stopped her from truly bonding with him. Not to mention that many people overlook the IMPORTANTANCE fo the feeling of love, because mot people can’t tune into it. It often requires a high spatial compact and a connection to GOD in order to experience. .
So, I definitely understand what she means. Yet, it is what it is. That admission in the book may be her truth, but it’s also payback for Shaq cheating and embarrassing her. It’s also a salute to her King, her new husband pastor Keion Henderson who made her feel love.
Shaunie Henderson noticed the cracks in her marriage to Shaquille O’Neal long before their high-profile divorce shook the sports and entertainment worlds in 2011.
In her new book, “Undefeated: Changing the Rules and Winning on My Own Terms,” released on May 7, Henderson, the creator of VH1’s “Basketball Wives,” delves into the breakdown of their relationship during O’Neal’s tenure with the Lakers.
“I enjoyed those sweet early years being a mother and raising my children; my days were always busy with kids and family, and every now and then I got to travel or enjoy a little of the NBA high life. But invisibly, my marriage was beginning to crumble,” Henderson, now 49, wrote.
“As I’ve written, it wasn’t obvious early on. You know how when you first get sick, and the symptoms are so mild that you’re not even sure you are sick? That’s how things were in the early years. I was busy and happy and didn’t notice what was going on. But as the disease progressed, the symptoms became harder and harder to ignore,” Henderson, now 49, reflected.
HOW THEY MET
“It was not hard to fall for his charm,” Henderson wrote of their first meeting in 1999, when she was working in the marketing department at 20th Century Fox.
“I staffed the premiere of ‘Star Wars: Episode 1–The Phantom Menace’ for Fox. I was checking in special guests, and Shaquille wasn’t even on the guest list, but he was such a big deal in L.A. that nobody cared when he showed up unannounced,” she wrote. “My bosses let him in the theater, but he ended up spending most of the movie in the lobby, trying to talk to me.”
After a few dates, Henderson and O’Neal were an item, and they went on to become one of the most famous NBA couples.
CHEATING 101 IN MIAMI
Despite the glamorous exterior, Henderson and O’Neal’s relationship faced turbulence, with Henderson recalling hearing rumors about O’Neal’s behavior when they relocated to Miami in 2004.
“Take Shaquille’s habit of ‘going missing,’” Henderson wrote. “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.”
“When we moved to Miami, I even heard a rumor that he had a condo in Miami Beach. I started to get suspicious, but he always had an answer, and I could never prove anything. Eventually, I was forced to admit that my family life wasn’t as blissful or perfect as I wanted to believe.”
Although Henderson and O’Neal shared a life of luxury, with mansions and lavish Christmases, Henderson admitted that she may have been in love with the idea of their life together rather than O’Neal himself.
“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,” Henderson wrote. “I was in love with the idea of building a life together. I truly did enjoy spending time with him. [NBA] road trips gave me a chance to be with my husband and experience the NBA life for a little while.”
Henderson explained in the book’s introduction that O’Neal tried to be the best husband and father he could to her and their children while navigating fame and receiving a lot of attention from women.
“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 at the same time,” she wrote. “How could anyone possibly know how to do that?”
Henderson made it clear that O’Neal never tried to hide her — he would blow kisses to her from the court at NBA games — and was so proud of their life together.
While O’Neal took responsibility for the downfall of their marriage, and wished his wife the best in her new marriage, Henderson emphasized that she isn’t placing blame. They divorced in 2011, allowing Henderson to find independence and create “Basketball Wives.”
Today, Henderson and O’Neal maintain a peaceful coexistence, with Henderson emphasizing that she doesn’t wish to tarnish their relationship.
“…Neither of us took the time to invest in our future by seeking marriage counseling, which, looking back, we probably should have,” Henderson reflected.
FROM HOUSE WIFE TO BOSS LIFE
Their divorce was finalized in 2011.
It led to Henderson finding her own financial independence and creating “Basketball Wives” in 2010. The reality show follows the daily lives and dynamics between wives, ex-wives and girlfriends of professional basketball players.
“After almost a year of planning, I had left my husband of nearly seven years, Shaquille O’Neal, along with the life my children and I had come to know… I told my divorce attorneys I didn’t want to fight with Shaquille. I just wanted him to take care of his kids,” Henderson wrote. “I didn’t care about anything else. I had also told them I didn’t want a cent of Shaquille’s money, and I meant it. I wanted to be free to have the life I wanted, on my terms, even while raising five kids under eleven… I’d turned my back on mansions, luxury cars, private jets, and a lifetime of wealth and privilege.”
Henderson explained that she and O’Neal now “have reached a placed of peaceful coexistence” and she “doesn’t want to ruin that” with her book.
Shaunie is a powerhouse. Most women would hold onto the last name of a celebrity man for dear life. But Shaunie dropped Shaq’s last name and picked up her husband’s last name… That says a lot about her level of self-love.
Many people who have never experienced deep, profound soulmate love will tell you to just pick a man, and eventually you will fall in love with him if he provides.
But it doesn’t work like that. Love is either almost instant after a few weeks or it’s cultivated through bonding. When a man initially meets a woman he tends to be dating/having sex with other women. Then he enters a relationship with a woman and continues the same patterns.
Because he’s busy bonding with other women he never fully forms a deep bond and cleaves with the main woman that he’s in a relationship with.
Of course men don’t realize how cheating impacts them early on in the relationship, and only denies them from receiving real love from the woman they are with.
I tell all of my couples to stop dating other people once you’re in a relationship. In fact stop talking to people you’re sexually attracted to. Spend time together and BOND. Wherever energy goes, love flows.
Should we feel bad for women who continue to take a cheating man back?
Essentially Sports Reports; In the newest episode of ‘The Big Podcast with SHAQ’, Shaquille O’Neal, Nischelle, and Spice Adams discussed the NBA postseason, Shaq vs. Rudy, etc. They also discussed Tristan Thompson’s controversial relationship with Khloe Kardashian.
Former NFL player Spice brought up the story of Tristan sending flowers to Khloe’s mother, Kris Jenner for mother’s day. And Kris Jenner posted it on social media with the captions “Thank you” and “Love you”. Given Tristan’s relationship issues with Kris’ daughter Khloe, it shocked a lot of people.
So Adams wanted to know the opinion of Nischelle about Thompson’s gesture. He also said, “…I think that is a cool thing to do. You send that to your mother-in-law, I think that is a great thing to do.”
But Nischelle was heated, “If my fellow got another woman pregnant and dogged me out publicly the way he has dogged Khloe out, and then he turned around to try to send Jackie Turner(Nischelle’s mother) some flowers, mmmm, that won’t go well.”
But Spice Adams reminded her that Tristan has already apologized for his mistakes. And Nischelle was still adamant that a mother shouldn’t do that. But Shaq said, “Khloe let him back!”
Also, Spice brought it up that Kris said that she loves him in the social media post. And Shaq joked that Nischelle would have taken the flowers if it was for her. While Nischelle accepted that, she insisted she wouldn’t post it on social media. She feels Kris shouldn’t have at least posted it because he has humiliated her daughter way too much.
Then the Lakers legend said, “Has he dogged her daughter out though?” and Nischelle said yes. But when O’Neal asked whether she was sure about that, Nischelle admitted Khloe accepted him back so many times.
So Shaquille O’Neal said, “…We all know it’s been well documented but she keeps taking him back. So that means y’all mind your business…”.
O’Neal also said not to be mad at Tristan when Khloe was taking him back again and again.
Thompson and Maralee Nichols welcomed their child to the world just 5 months back. While Kris Jenner posted her mother-in-law gif,r Khloe didn’t post any mother’s day gifts from Tristian.
It’s really that simple. That’s how men view things. Women complicate things with emotions. Because a woman LOVES a man, she will take him back if he cheats. Then when he cheats again, everyone calls her st*pid. Rarely do they ever call the man that for messing up the relationship. Instead they view it as him having OPTIONS. This is because people recognize women lacking self-love and loving a man more than they love themselves.
It’s funny how men expect women to have self-love when rich women on tv with everything they want, lack it too.
Not to mention, the Kardashian’s don’t care about being embarrassed by men. They care more about popularity and keeping their name in the news. The only thing they’ve ever been embarrassed about is Bruce Jenner switching lanes and Blac Chyna acting a whole fool on tv and getting pregnant by their only son,
They wasn’t having that one and shut it down.
Where Things Stand Now With Khloe & Tristian
“Tristan and I are currently not exactly together. He’s one of my best friends,” Khloé explained in a confessional interview during the premiere episode. “I see Tristan a couple of times a week. He’s a really hands-on dad and me and Tristan don’t have tension. We get along really well. So it is just easy to coparent with him.”
I know how that feels too. At one time my abusive boyfriend was my best friend, I believed…
Anyway, I believe Tristian is still hitting it from the back.
Veteran NBA star, Shaquille O’Neal has revealed why he paid his ex-wife Shaunie O’Neal $300K a year to not work.
According to Shaq, he didn’t want his ex-wife to work when they were together. If he can afford to let his woman stay in the house and be taken care of, why let her work for $100K a year?
He made the above revelation on The Big Podcast with Shaq via Fade Away World;
““You have to let a woman be a woman coz I’m a king because of how my mother worked. I only want her to do one thing, stay fine. I was the type, ‘you don’t need to work, whatever you need I’ll give it to you’ because I’m like the King of England mentally.“
“I know now, it is a mistake. I’m so big on my people. If I can protect you by keeping you in a house, stay in house. What you working for how much you make in a year? 100,000? Here’s 300,000.““
“I know now, it is a mistake. I’m so big on my people. If I can protect you by keeping you in a house, stay in house. What you working for how much you make in a year? 100,000? Here’s 300,000.“
There is more;
Shaquille O’Neal has always stated he’s very protective of the people he loves, doing whatever he can to help those who need him. This goes to the next level when it comes to the women in his life. The Los Angeles Lakers legend has always made sure to take care of them, no matter what.
Interesting. When I talk to most black men these days they really want a woman who makes a lot of money. They don’t see the benefit of paying a woman to not work. They’d rather her work, him be neglected, cheat and them complain she doesn’t have time to cater to him….or that she’s too masculine. Men think so much about money these days in terms of the woman bringing in money, that most of the single ones don’t even understand how the money divinely comes to them..
What I love about Shaunie is that she educated herself on business with the extra time she had getting paid not to work.
Anyway, Shaq cheated on Shaunie and the revenge costed his a pretty penny.
WATCH THE VIDEO BELOW:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=svQ2U9vSAK8
I’ve always believed that most relationships breakdown because of men, however most men blame women. In this case Shaquille O’Neal admits that it was he who caused his 2011 divorce.
Shaq, 50, recently appeared on “The Pivot Podcast” and placed the blame for his split from his ex-wife, Shaunie, on himself.
“I was bad. She was awesome,” Shaq admitted.
“It was all me. We don’t need to talk about what I was doing, but I wasn’t protecting her and protecting those vows. Sometimes you live that double-life and get caught up. I’m not going to say it was her. It was all me.”
He kept reiterating that he put the blame on himself.
“She did exactly what she was supposed to do,” the NBA Hall of Famer continued. “Take care of the kids. Take care of the house. Take care of corporate stuff. It was just all me.
“Sometimes when you make a lot of mistakes like that, you can’t really come back from that. But as I get older and you dwell on situations, it was all me.”
He was also candid about what he lost.
“The best feeling for me was coming home and hearing 5-6 different voices,” he said. “Don’t matter if I miss 15 free throws and we lost. They don’t care about that.”
Shaquille O’Neal and wife Shaunie at the 2007 ESPY Awards. Kodak Theatre, Hollywood, CA. 07-11-07 – Shutterstock
He said he was just being “greedy.”
“I had the perfect situation,” he said. “Wife was finer than a mug. Kept giving me babies. Still finer than a mug. I had it all. I don’t make excuses. I know I messed up. When that d-word happened — I don’t like to use that word — I was lost. 76,000 square foot house by yourself. Lost. No kids. Go to the gym. Nobody’s playing. You go to their room, nobody’s there.”
The pair, who tied the knot in 2002, have five children together: Myles, 24, Shareef, 22, Amirah, 20, Shaqir, 19, and Me’arah, 15. Shaquille also has a daughter, Taahirah, 25, with his ex Arnetta Yardbourgh.
Shaunie O’Neal, 47, is an executive producer of VH1’s “Basketball Wives” series. She and Shaq married in 2002. The couple separated in 2007. While they had a reconciliation at that time, Shaunie filed for divorce in 2009 and it was finalized in 2011. They had four kids together, and each have another from previous relationships.
Shaq still takes great pride in being financially responsible for providing for his children.
