The Los Angeles Lakers legend Shaquille O’Neal is one of the most influential people in sports. Everyone loves to see Shaq and his antics. The way he is and how he thrives on entertaining people. But there are times when even the richest and most liked celebrities out there get bogged down. And it can range from a variety of things going on in their lives or in the lives of their loved ones.

Shaquille O’Neal recently got real with Brandi Rhodes on her podcast. Despite being one of the most successful NBA players post-retirement, Shaquille O’Neal spoke about loneliness and what he fears the most.

Shaquille O’Neal on not having his kids around

While talking to Brandi on her show, ‘2 Lies and 1 Truth,’ Shaq talked about his divorce and the impact it had on him and his children. O’Neal explained what was the worst part about separation for him.

Brandi asked Shaq about the best and worst moments with all his kids together. O’Neal told her the best part was coming home and listening to 5-6 different voices. And the worst moment was when his separation happened and they weren’t there every day.

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While talking to Brandi, Shaq said, “The worst part was going through the separation, the divorce and they weren’t there anymore and I’ve come home to a 76,000-square-foot house that I built for them and there was nobody in here but me.”

O’Neal has a huge mansion in Orlando where he started his career. But after his divorce from Shaunie, Shaq ended up spending a lot of sleepless nights in the mansion all by himself. O’Neal and Shaunie married each other in 2002 and separated in 2011.

The two had four children together with both O’Neal and Shaunie having a child from her previous relationship. Shaq opened up about the best and worst things with his kids. Brandi asked him if there was any advice for parents going through the same. And what would best help the kids thrive through a situation like this?

Parental advice from O’Neal

O’Neal said, “As a man, you have to continue to be a parent, you have to continue to love and you have to give them time to understand. It’s going to be emotions, it’s gonna be feelings, and you know they’ll hopefully eventually get over it,” he added.

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In the end, O’Neal mentioned, “The tricky part is will they love you the same, whether they love you less or they hate you.” O’Neal did clear out that he has a good relationship with his kids but wished he had the right answers or a book to guide him.