Shaquille O’Neal’s sheer size may have struck fear in his opponents, but he has always had a bigger heart. He has often been quite generous with those really close to him. Just ask reality TV star Natalie Nunn! ‘The Big Diesel’ apparently treated her to a rather big gift.
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Nunn recently graced former NFL star Cam Newton’s Funky Friday Podcast. It was clear from the get-go that she thrives in front of the camera as she completely stole the show. For the majority of their conversation, it felt that Nunn controlled the direction of their discussion.
Eventually, their conversation shifted to another reality TV personality, Nicole ‘Hoopz’ Alexander. Hoopz gained notoriety through her involvement on shows such as Flavor of Love and I Love Money. Her popularity would skyrocket when she began to date NBA legend Shaquille O’Neal.
Newton brought up the past relationship between the two, which led to an interesting revelation from Nunn. Apparently O’Neal acquainted himself with her during her time in college and really helped her out.
“Shaq bought me my first car,” Nunn said.
As soon as those words left Nunn’s mouth, Newton’s facial reaction instantly changed. He instinctively asked, “You dated Shaq?” Of course, Nunn put that narrative to bed by confirming she never had such a relationship with the four-time NBA champion.
“He bought me a bug. It was a convertible little bug,” Nunn revealed.
The car in question is a 2004 Volkswagen New Beetle, which costs over $21,000. Regardless, Nunn’s revelation became significantly more confusing for Newton once she revealed exactly when O’Neal purchased the car for her.
“I was in college. Shaq was playing for the Lakers, and I was at USC,” Nunn added.
Fortunately for Nunn’s case, she wasn’t just any ordinary student. She was a member of the Trojans’ women’s soccer team in 2004. USC isn’t far from Crypto.com Arena (formerly the Staples Center), the home of the Lakers. As a result, it was easy for players to attend collegiate games.
That wasn’t enough to change Newton’s skepticism. “Something isn’t adding up,” Newton said.
At this time, O’Neal was still in his marriage with ex-wife, Shaunie Henderson. It isn’t a secret that O’Neal had plenty of affairs during his marriage. Newton’s reaction insinuated that Nunn must’ve been one of the women O’Neal was seeing behind closed doors if he was getting getting her gifts.
Regardless, she refuted any such claim, leaving his questions unanswered. It could very well be that Shaq just did it because he was feeling generous. A lot about him has changed since those years but giving student-athletes vehicles to help them out isn’t one of them.
In September 2025, O’Neal gave Tamara Humphries a car, which she needed to travel between home and her classes. The gesture was extremely thoughtful and eased a heavy burden on the student athlete.
