Shaquille O’Neal has seen most of his kids follow in his iconic footsteps and take up basketball as the sport of their choice. We have Shareef who signed with the Sacramento Kings last month, while Shaq’s youngest son Shaqir plays for Florida A&M. In fact, two of his daughters, Me’arah and Amirah are also involved in basketball with their respective college teams. But the NBA icon’s eldest daughter likes to stand out from the crowd.

Taahirah O’Neal, whom Shaq co-parents with his ex-girlfriend Arnetta Yardbourgh has different interests. Earlier this year, she moved to Georgia from Texas, having served as a communications associate analyst for PepsiCo, in order to start a fresh chapter in her life. Not only that, it turns out she is not into sports at all. Well, that is at least according to her recent conversation with cousin Marcus. 

The incident under the spotlight is her latest Instagram story, which is a screenshot of a DM conversation with Marcus, where he greets her with the good news of the return of the State Farms Champions Classic to Atlanta. The event is widely read as the signature men’s college basketball event that has its second time at State Farm Arena’s world-class facility. However, this news is received in a way that you wouldn’t have expected from the daughter of a basketball legend.  

Taahirah took the conversation lightly with a remark: “Oh cute.” This met with an inquiry on her intentions to attend the game, to which the 28-year-old reverted with, “Cousin, I don’t like sports  or large crowds.” The rest of the conversation shared the hopelessness of Marcus and the callous nature of Taahirah toward sports. The caption of her story summed up her feelings as she wrote, “Fun fact: she’s not a sports girly.” 

Taahirah’s primary interest lies in nature and running a farm in Georgia about which she has been vocal recently, especially through her IG posts. So she is as far away from sports as she could get. But this is not to say she doesn’t have her respect for athletes. But just being raised among them — 4 of Shaq’s 6 kids played basketball — and knowing the reality, has her indifferent. So much so, that she wouldn’t look to date one either. 

“No offense to athletes but I was raised by, raised with athletes. It’s a no go for me. It’s a no for me,” she said on the topic of marrying an athlete earlier this year.

 “I have like the utmost respect for athletes … where I am in my life especially growing up the way that I did I don’t want that for myself … I need your time… I really don’t want to go toe-to-toe with someone’s schedule,” she clarified on the “Do I know You? w/Jordierae” podcast in February this year. In the podcast, she also highlighted how she had to step out of his father’s shadow.

“I had these two huge shadows to kind of follow behind if I wasn’t Shaquille’s daughter I was on Arnetta’s daughter yeah and it was a lot and I think like a lot of kids you just kind of get used to it I was very comfortable being ‘oh Shaquille’s daughter the one who doesn’t play basketball,'” she explained.

Back in August, Taahirah, who graduated from Oglethorpe University in 2019 shared pictures from an outdoor trip at a ranch in Georgia. In one of the pictures of a beautiful shallow rock pond, Taahirah wrote, “To know me is to know I truly do love the outdoors haha.” Outlining her future goals, she also mentioned, “I will own a farm in ten years. Mark my words.” 

Thus, she comes down to a laid-back lifestyle with enough time for loved ones, which athletes seldom have as she experienced in life. More or less, the absence of Shaquille O’Neal in her earlier life seems to have played some part. Having said that, a quick insight into her mother’s side will do good. 

Completing the puzzle with Yardbourgh 

Arnetta Yardbourgh, the high school love of ‘The Big Shamrock’ has kept her distance from the limelight even though she was there with O’Neal on his NBA draft in 1992. The relationship which never proceeded to marriage, ended in 1996, just a couple of months before Taahirah’s birth on July 19, 1996. From then on, O’Neal abided by an arrangement where he provided for the child while the mother had her custody until she turned 18. 

The independent wellness coach and entrepreneur that she is, Yardbourgh maintained her warmth with her firstborn. Just a look at Taahirah’s IG posts offers evidence. Her Mother’s Day post read: “Happy Mother’s Day to the life of the party @arnettayardbourgh 🤎🤩♐️ I love you Mommy.” The same resonates in another post: “I love you Mommy. 🤎✨@arnettayardbourgh”

Meanwhile, the long separations with O’Neal don’t mean tensions in father-daughter bonding. The Christmas celebrations he has with children while playing the “Shaq-a-Claus” are evidence of their warmth amidst separation. Moreover, his healthy relationship with Yardbourgh has given him unrestricted access to the daughter to make way for a bond. 

Shaq was also excited about her daughter’s move to Georgia, hilariously saying, “I’m so proud of you even though you got me paying two rents. I’m proud of you,” at a family gathering celebrating Taahirah’s next step.

Now that there is clarity on the path that led Taahirah O’Neal to defy family interests, we will be keeping an eye on her next venture and let you know what Shaq’s eldest daughter, who doesn’t like sports, is up to.