Shaquille O’Neal responded to an excerpt from a book in which ex-wife Shawnee Henderson admitted she may have never been in love with the NBA legend.
Henderson, 49, the creator of the VH1 “Basketball Wives” series, published a book this week called “Undefeated: Changing the Rules and Winning on My Own Turn.”
O’Neal, 52, currently serves as an NBA studio analyst for TNT. I responded with an Instagram post. to what Henderson wrote about their marriage in the book.
“I understand,” O’Neal wrote.
“I wouldn’t have loved me either. I wish you all the best. Love you all, Shaq.”
He added, “Trust me, I get it.”
The couple married in 2002 but divorced in 2011.
“I enjoyed those sweet early years as a mother while raising my children. My days were always busy with my children and family, traveling occasionally and enjoying a little bit of the NBA high life. But before I could see it, my marriage was beginning to fall apart,” Henderson, now 49, wrote.
“As I’ve written before, it wasn’t obvious in the early days. You know when you first get sick and your symptoms are so mild that you don’t even know if you’re sick or not. Is that what it felt like in the early days? I was busy and happy and didn’t notice what was happening. But as the disease progressed, the symptoms became harder and harder to ignore. ”
The couple have four children, sons Shareef and Shakir and daughters Amira and Mera, while O’Neal has a daughter, Tahira, from a previous relationship, and Henderson has a son, Miles, from a previous relationship.
Ms Henderson wrote that Ms O’Neill had a habit of “disappearing” and that she suspected infidelity.
“Looking back, I don’t know if I truly loved that man, but I was obsessed with the idea of marrying a man with whom I had a family,” Henderson wrote. “I was really interested in the idea of building a life together. I really enjoyed spending time with him. [NBA] The road trip gave me the opportunity to be with my husband and experience NBA life for a little while. ”
Last June, O’Neal admitted he had fallen short as a husband.
“I had two perfect women and I messed them up,” Shaq told singer Monica on his podcast.
“My first person was the baby’s mother, Arnetta.” [Yardbourgh]And then I met Shaunie. [Nelson]. Shawnee was also the perfect woman and I ruined her.
“Yeah, we were young and we were always doing stupid things. But the good thing about our relationship is that they forgave me and now we have a good relationship. But when you ask me about perfect women, I have two perfect women and I’ve ruined them just because I’m stupid.”
He shared the advice he gives his sons regarding relationships.
“The first thing you have to be honest is be honest with yourself and be honest with your partner. I always tell my sons that when it comes to women, men have three You have a job to protect, provide, and love,” O’Neal continued.
“Some men, for whatever reason, can only provide two, but I’ll teach you how to provide all three. And that’s what I’m going to do – and with the women I let go. No relationship, but I will always PPL: protect, provide, love, get everything they need from me.
