Shaquille O’Neal wasn’t exactly ready to settle down when he met both Arnetta Yardbourgh and Shaunie O’Neal. While he felt as though he could be loyal to both of these women, it simply wasn’t who he was at that point in his life.
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Shaq established himself as a world-class center in merely his first week in the NBA after getting drafted by the Orlando Magic by winning ‘player of the week’ honors in his very 1st week in the league. The Magic instantly went from Playoff hopefuls to full-blown title contenders in a matter of a couple years with O’Neal.
Fame and money came quick to ‘The Big Aristotle’ and this amalgamation of attributes led to him going down a path that would ultimately result in him losing two of the greatest women in his life. He has since admitted he was at fault for it all on a multitude of platforms.
Shaquille O’Neal on losing Arnetta and Shaunie
Shaquille O’Neal, in his new ‘SHAQ’ docuseries, sat down and opened up about how he lost both of the mothers of his children due to his adulterous ways. “Just being a dumba** rich, spoiled man, of course I messed it up,” said Shaq.
Arnetta and Shaq met while in high school and as he said in the clip above, they would start dating in 1992 when he got drafted. She was even present in the draft room when his name was announced. The two would have a child together named, Taahirah, but after Shaq left Orlando for Los Angeles, their relationship would begin to dwindle.
It was in LA that the eventual 4x NBA champ met his first wife, Shaunie. From 1996 to 2002, the two would date with them eventually getting married in the latter year. They would be married for 5 years before Shaunie would file for divorce in 2007. He convinced to withdraw the petition but she would do so again in November of 2009.
Shaquille O’Neal shares 4 children with Shaunie Henderson
Shaquille O’Neal had two children before they got married and two more during their marriage. Shaunie also had Myles from a previous man in her life but he would be embraced as an O’Neal as he was only 5 when his mother married Shaq.
Since their divorce, Shaunie has found love in Keion Henderson as the two got married recently with 3 sons, Shareef, Shaqir, and Myles walking her down the aisle. Shaq even got an invitation to the wedding as well.
