Shaunie Henderson’s second shot at a happily ever after had the most heartbreaking setback. She was preparing for her wedding with Keion Henderson in 2022 when her father passed away in March 2022. We saw her wedding play out on the Basketball Wives spinoff and her loved ones’ social media. For the first time, she’s expressing how grief affected her before her wedding through her memoir, Undefeated. In the same memoir, Shaunie detailed a complicated relationship with her father. While she considered herself a ‘Daddy’s Girl,’ she was aware he was not the best husband to her mother. Yet his absence was felt at her wedding in more ways than one.

Shaunie and Keion married in the Caribbean destination of Aurora Anguilla Resort & Golf Club on May 28, 2022. While they were in the last stages of their wedding planning, Shaunie’s father, who she affectionately referred to as ‘Mr. Nelson’ passed away. Naturally, she was in no state to plan a wedding. But the resort called her regarding the deposit to hold down the room for their party.

At this point, Shaunie wasn’t sure if she should go ahead with the wedding. Her fiance, Keion, was handling things with the hospital and mortuary on her behalf and she was afraid of burdening him with the wedding issue too. After a mental breakdown, she let him handle the wedding details but she was afraid of what her family might think.

“I didn’t know how to disconnect dad from the wedding planning,” Shaunie Henderson wrote in her memoir. As a result, she feared what others might think. While everyone speculated if Shaquille O’Neal was invited, her thoughts revolved around, “Do I just cancel everything that’s going on that’s so wonderful right now to sit in this place of grief and pain?” to wondering if her siblings hate her for planning a wedding while they grieve.

She describes her mother as someone who doesn’t show her grief to anyone. Her mother made up for her husband’s absence and pushed her to go ahead with the wedding with all its grandeur. That and an important lesson she learned after losing her father made her go ahead with the wedding.

Shaunie Henderson’s boys made up for her dad’s absence

The resort only gave Shaunie a day to gather her bearings and handle the deposit if she wanted to hold her wedding there. It was a reminder that the world doesn’t stop when you lose someone. That jolt pushed Shaunie to not only go ahead with her wedding plans but let the world see her special day.

The wedding was aired on Vh1’s Shaunie & Keion’s Destination ‘I Do’ in 2022. In one instance, her youngest son, Shaqir, wanted to be the one to walk his mom down the aisle as her ‘favorite.’ Keion suggested that Myles, Shareef, and Shaqir take turns. Her daughters, Me’Arah and Amirah were part of her bridal party.

Shaunie did mention to Shaqir that he wouldn’t have that privilege if her father was there. She expressed that her father would’ve wanted her to go ahead with the wedding and she did just that.

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.