*Shaunie Henderson has given fans an intimate look into her marriage with Shaquille O’Neal in her 2024 memoir, “Undefeated: Changing the Rules and Winning on My Own Terms.” The book includes candid exchanges between Henderson and the basketball legend, which she describes as both honest and satisfying.
“What’s crazy is that cheating was an ego boost,” Shaq told Shaunie, per Undefeated. “It wasn’t even about the girl. It wasn’t about me falling for someone or having feelings for her. It was about getting away with it,” Henderson wrote.
As PEOPLE reported, Henderson admitted that she was more in love with Shaq’s lifestyle and the concept of marriage than with him as an individual. O’Neal and Henderson married in 2002 and divorced in 2009, citing Shaq’s alleged infidelity. The couple shares four children: sons Shareef and Shaqir, and daughters Amirah and Me’arah.
“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, according to Essence. She added, “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.”
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Henderson also reflected on the challenges Shaq faced balancing fame and family: “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. How could anyone possibly know how to do that?”
MORE NEWS ON EURWEB.COM: Shaquille O’Neal’s Ex-Wife (Shaunie) Admits She Never Loved Him – Shaq Responds: ‘Trust Me I Get It’
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