Despite Rejecting Part of Shaq’s Wealth, Ex-wife Shaunie Admits Her Hunger for Just 1 Thing

The end of Shaquille O’Neal and the former Shaunie Nelson’s marriage was as dramatic as their relationship. Shaq filed for divorce, then they withdrew it, tried to reconcile, Shaunie filed again, they reached a settlement, and Basketball Wives premiered. This played out in the media around the time Shaq was retiring extensively. Shaunie Henderson’s Amazon Bestselling memoir gives a previously unknown perspective of their divorce. In Undefeated, Shaunie disclosed she did something against her lawyers’ insistence for her peace of mind.

“Despite my lawyers’ advice, I didn’t want anything from Shaquille. I just wanted out,” she wrote. Shaq filed for divorce the first time in 2007, a year after welcoming their youngest child, Me’Arah, claiming that she had been secretive about her assets. According to reports then, Shaunie requested the courts to give them three months to work on reconciliation and denied his claims. They’d call off their divorce in 2008 only for Shaunie to re-file for divorce in 2009 citing irreconcilable differences. And she’d apparently defy her legal counsel.

“I kept telling him, ‘You don’t have to give me anything, just take care of the kids.’ Of course, he was legally bound to take financial responsibility for the kids, which he did, but outside of that, all I wanted was my car, which was in my name. The only other thing I wanted was peace of mind. I was hungry for it. I just wanted to live honestly and without lies or self-deception.”

By ‘self-deception,’ she’s probably referring to a pattern of denial she fell into about Shaq’s infidelity. She narrated many incidents of ignoring his affairs for a decade of their relationship in her book. As she also said, Shaq ensured she could take care of the five kids they have. After months of proceedings in California and Florida, they reached a settlement in 2011.

Shaq agreed to pay her $10,000 in spousal support and $10,000 for each kid. Reports back then also revealed that Shaunie got three homes in LA, Orlando, and Miami worth $33.4 million in total out of his real estate empire. In the immediate aftermath of their separation though, Shaunie had to be careful of her finances.

Shaunie Henderson comes full circle

Shaunie wrote that after filing for separation, she moved with their kids to LA, her hometown where her parents were. She narrated elsewhere in her book her mom welcomed her no questions asked, ensuring she and her kids were taken care of. But this decision was vital for Shaunie.

She was working as a film promoter when she began dating Shaq. But for most of their relationship, she had no job and lived off an ‘allowance’ from him. She saved her allowance in the bank to make a nest egg but it was not enough to rent a home or stay in a hotel. Living with her parents was better logistically and emotionally. So she shipped her things, including the car she wanted to keep from Florida to LA. “I knew I would have to wait for the divorce to be final to get money to look after the kids, so I needed my family. They were my only option.”

On her press tour, Shaunie defended Basketball Wives as a means for survival. That show would bring Shaunie full circle as it premiered in 2010 with her returning to Miami to reconnect with her friends.

Stay tuned for more such updates, and to follow what Shaq’s ex-agent, Leonard Armato, has to say about the infamous Shaq-Kobe feud, Caitlin Clark’s Olympic snub, and more, watch this video.