One of the most dominant legends on the court in NBA history has undoubtedly been Shaquille O’Neal, former LA Lakers center, who currently remains one of the most important figures around the league, either for his legacy or for his present as an entrepreneur and TV host.
However, the also former player of teams like Orlando Magic or Cleveland Cavaliers, contrary to the rude image he transmits at times as well as his comic side, this time he opened his heart by making a series of confessions about his divorce in 2009 from Shaunie Nelson.
Shaq’s divorce from Shaunie Nelson
Shaq decided on a visit to The Pivot Podcast to talk in a brutally honest way about how he was influenced by his split from Shaunie, as well as how he coped with moving away from his family and at one point in his life finding himself alone, despite the luxurious life he has thanks to his basketball successes.
“I had the perfect situation, wife was finer than a mug, kept giving me babies, still finer than a mug. I had it all, and I don’t make excuses. I know I messed up. When I didn’t have that…I was lost. 76,000 square-foot house by yourself, lost. … You start to feel it,” O’Neal told hosts Ryan Clark, Channing Crowder and Fred Taylor.
Nelson and O’Neal married in 2002 and the couple had four children, Shareef, Amirah, Shaqir and Me’arah, but in 2007 they separated although they resolved their issues shortly thereafter. However, in 2009 Shaunie filed for divorce and in 2011 finalized the process, citing “irreconcilable differences.”
O’Neal’s regrets with Kobe and Hardaway
In addition to his divorce from Shaunie, O’Neal revealed that the other two big regrets in his life are the relationships on a professional and personal level that he failed to maintain with former teammates Kobe Bryant and Penny Hardaway.
[embedded content]
“Big mistake in the Penny relationship. Big mistake in the Kobe relationship, I was arrogant, I was dumb, but sometimes when you do a lot of stuff you don’t wanna work at stuff. Those the only three major regrets that I have,” Shaq said.
Marca
