Shaquille O’Neal met his ex-wife, now Shaunie Henderson, after moving from the Orlando Magic to the Los Angeles Lakers in 1996. Six years later, their marriage was called ‘the event of a lifetime,’ by Shaq’s mother, who rejoiced at the love the two shared. However, it took another five years to see the rift; leaving many regrets and many words unsaid.

Shaunie is now married to Keion Henderson, but she never really spoke about her failed marriage with Shaq before, which entailed a storm of heartbreak and continued criticisms. But now, Shaunie seems ready to open up through her recently released book, “Undefeated: Changing the Rules and Winning on My Own Terms.” Herein, the Basketball Wives producer shared that it was her divorce with Shaq that led her to fall in love with her now-husband.

“When I met Shaq, I fell for the charm, the gifts, and the dramatic gestures. But that stuff doesn’t last long,” she wrote. “Like me, Keion is divorced, so he knows that type of pain. We both looked for different things this time around. We both wanted physical and sexual attraction, sure, but we also wanted character, confidence, and kindness.”

In the same book, Shaunie revealed she she never believed she was in love with Shaq during their marriage. It was majorly fueled by the four children they shared together. “I was in love with the idea of being married to the man I had a family with… of building a life together.” Since Shaq filing the first divorce in 2007, the duo tried to hold on and rework, but it only lasted until 2011, after its many fruits and weeds; which for the visible better, led the CEO Of Amirah Inc to ‘find love she never thought she’d find’.

Even though Shaunie Henderson did share her feelings when she was in a relationship with Shaq, she never blamed Shaq completely for their failed marriage.

Shaunie’s reflection on her relationship with Shaq

When Shaunie mentioned being unsure about the purity of love for the NBA legend, she unwillingly invited fervent debates from Shaq’s fan base. However, in reality, her statement wasn’t bad at all. Despite facing infidelity, she sympathized with Shaq by saying that he was trying to focus on his image.

“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,” she said in her book. Intriguingly, Shaunie’s relationship with Shaq has failed, but their co-parenting of four children has been quite successful.

Even after their split-up, the pair has found a way to coexist as friends. Shaq’s admission of being in the wrong and openly admitting regrets over his actions has only yielded respect for each other.