Shaquille O’Neal responded to his ex-wife Shaunie Henderson saying she never loved him the entire time they were married.
Shaunie made the revelation in her new book Undefeated: “Changing the Rules and Winning on My Own Terms,” published on May 7.
Shaunie, 49, says she isn’t sure she was ever in love with the NBA legend.
She said their chef did all the grocery shopping while she watched the children.
“I enjoyed those sweet early years being a mother and raising my children; my days were always busy with kids and family, and every now and then I got to travel or enjoy a little of the NBA high life. But invisibly, my marriage was beginning to crumble,” Shaunie wrote.
Shaq made many excuses, so she never had proof that he was cheating on her.
“Looking back, I don’t know that I was ever really in love with the man,” she writes. “But I was in love with the idea of being married to the man I had a family with. I was in love with the idea of building a life together. I truly did enjoy spending time with him. [NBA] road trips gave me a chance to be with my husband and experience the NBA life for a little while.”
Shaunie added that Shaq “was trying to be a world-famous, thirty-something multimillionaire with thousands of women throwing themselves at him,” and a husband and father at the same time.
The day after the book was released, Shaq, now a sports analyst for TNT, responded on Instagram: “Trust me, I get it.”
Shaq, 52, added: “I understand…I wouldn’t have been in love with me either. Wishing you all the best. All love, Shaq.”
