“I Was a Male Diva”: When Shaquille O’Neal Admitted Ex-Wife Shaunie Faced the Brunt of His On-Court Losses

Shaquille O’Neal and his ex-wife Shaunie Henderson are on great terms today. The duo co-parent their four children and often speak glowingly of each other. However, that wasn’t always the case. After all, they are divorced. Among the slew of reasons they called off their marriage was the Hall of Famer’s inability to not let his life outside his house affect his mood when he was with her.

In his memoir Shaq Uncut, O’Neal revealed that he was moody and wasn’t a good partner. He admitted that he inadvertently made Shaunie his emotional punching bag, which he regrets. He wrote,

“It’s hard to be married to a professional athlete. We’re locked into this one thing to win a championship—and when it doesn’t work out, well, we’re not all that fun to be around. We’ve also got people pulling at us all the time and sometimes we forget to push them away. Besides, I was moody around the house. If I read a bad article that someone wrote about me, I’d take it out on my wife. I admit I was a male diva.”

The couple’s marriage was tumultuous and was bound to end. While he behaved childishly during it, O’Neal showcased great maturity in the legal proceedings during their eventual separation in 2011. However, that was borne out of the guilt he felt for being the primary reason why their relationship ended.

Shaq claims responsibility for the divorce

In a Vanity Fair interview, O’Neal took full responsibility for his marriage falling apart. He admitted that he couldn’t deal with the temptations that came with being a superstar athlete. He said,

“I wasn’t protecting her and protecting those vows. Sometimes when you live that double life, you get caught up. I’m not going to say it was her; it was all me. She did exactly what she was supposed to do and gave me beautiful kids, take care of the house, take care of the corporate stuff. It was just all me. Sometimes, when you make a lot of mistakes like that, you can’t really come back from that. She was awesome, she really was. It was all me.”

Their marriage wasn’t as pleasant as they wished it could have been. However, they have both moved on for the sake of their children and have learned to co-exist.