Shaunie Henderson’s Father’s Infidelity Had a Different Outcome Unlike Shaquille O’Neal: “Has He Done This With 3 Three Other Women”

Shaunie Henderson and Shaquille O’Neal had been married for 9 years before their divorce was officiated in 2011. The marriage entailed its ups, and its chances but only to be outweighed by the downs and the disagreements as detailed by Shaunie’s memoir, Undefeated: Changing the Rules and Winning on My Own Terms. Turns out, it wasn’t the first broken relationship the ‘basketball wives’ producer has been a close witness to, having her wish on a marriage quite opposite.

In the book, Shaunie reflected on her parents’ marriage to eventually say, “That’s why I eventually forgave Shaquille for the things he did wrong in our marriage.” Her parents were together for over five decades till her father passed away in March 2022. Shaunie realized at a young age that her father had been unfaithful to his wife. However, her mother not only stayed in the marriage, but she never forgave her father. This led her to be filled with anger, something Shaunie decided to avoid for herself by forgiving Shaq.

Her mom said, “They’re men. They’re going to mess up all the time. Get over it and move on.” But she couldn’t do it as she felt messing up was a lot different than infidelity.  “I want to be affectionate with my husband and not feel dirty. I don’t want to feel like he’s dirty. When he comes in the door, I want to give him a kiss and cuddle with him and not ask myself, Has he done this with three other women today behind my back? I don’t want that burden for the rest of my life.”

Even though both women had different ideologies, Shaunie’s mother had her back during her toughest phase. She even became her “2 AM friend.”  All Shaunie wanted after the divorce was not the money of the Lakers legend but her peace of mind. “I was hungry for it. I just wanted to live honestly and without lies or self-deception.”

Shaquille O’Neal responded to Shaunie

In Undefeated, Shaunie raises a few brows through the line, “Looking back, I don’t know that I was ever really in love with the man.” This statement spread like wildfire and a few legends came in support of Shaq. Notably, it was Shanon Sharpe who at the time had a small beef with the 4xNBA champion. Yet Sharpe let that go and questioned Shaunie and her intentions.

O’Neal on the other hand dropped a cryptic post on Instagram. Rather than defending himself, Shaq wrote, “I understand… I wouldn’t have been in love with me either. Wishing you all the best… All Love Shaq.” The caption to the post was, “trust me i get it.”

It seems Shaquille O’Neal and Shaunie Henderson are at peace with the decision. They are co-parenting their children who are part of both of their lives as the latter seems to have found her dream match in Keion Henderson, with whom, she believes she has found the love she thought she could never find.

Stay tuned for more such updates, and to follow what Shaq’s ex-agent, Leonard Armato had to say about the marketing genius, watch this video.