Earning millions through endorsements and professional sports contracts, athletes tend to develop a vice or two as their careers go on. In his case, NBA icon Shaquille O’Neal had to split up with his wife due to extra-marital affairs. At the time, it seemed like a somewhat mutual decision, with partners supporting each other and their kids together. However, in a shocking turn of events, things have turned slightly sour recently.
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O’Neal’s ex-wife, Shaunie Henderson recently came out in an interview, revealing that perhaps she was never in love with Shaquille O’Neal. Initially, O’Neal seemed to bear no ill will toward her, seemingly agreeing with her in his initial response. But things have seemingly changed since if his recent post on Instagram is anything to go by.
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To accompany his post, Shaq even wrote, “Even when they talk about you, make sure you look good.” The four-time NBA champion also tagged companies like Reebok, JCPenney, Papa John’s, TNT, Pepsi, and more, brands he has multi-million dollar deals with.
Switching up from a black tank and joggers to a thousand-dollar suit, O’Neal seemingly made sure he looked good, while he took any and all criticism. And of course, the song: Million Dollar Baby playing in the background is no coincidence either.
The saying goes, ‘The best way to win a break-up is to live your best life’, something ‘The Big Diesel’ seems to have taken to heart. However, what prompted this all these years later? What did Shaunie Henderson say?
In her recently released book, Undefeated: Changing the Rules and Winning on My Own Terms, (per Complex), the 49-year-old wrote,
“Looking back, I don’t know that I was ever really in love with the man, 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 allowed me to be with my husband and experience the NBA life for a little while.”
Henderson deserves all the credit in the world for being as open as she was able to be in her book. That said, O’Neal was always going to be entitled to a reaction of his own. But while his most recent response to his ex-wife’s claims has been a strong one, the big man’s initial retort was a rather apologetic one.
What did Shaquille O’Neal say initially?
Shaquille O’Neal’s first response to Shaunie Henderson’s claims wasn’t to go on to social media and flex in her face. In fact, just hours before his more recent reaction, Shaq uploaded another post on Instagram as his first response. O’Neal’s initial post read, “I understand…I wouldn’t have been in love with me either. Wishing you all the best… [heart emoji] All love, Shaq”
The post was captioned, “I get it,” as an initial response to Shaunie claiming that she might never have been in love with Shaquille O’Neal despite all those years of marriage and having multiple kids together.
Shaq has always owned up to his mistakes and this case was no different. Having blamed his failed marriage on nothing more than himself for years now, his initial response seemed in line with all prior times he has spoken about his marriage. However, his more recent reaction may mean that he is tired of feeling down and guilty about the past.
Could Shaquille O’Neal be feeling a little angry at Shaunie Henderson after all?
