Shaunie Henderson Subtly Refuted All Rumors That Ex-Husband Shaquille O’Neal “Pulled Strings” To Launch Basketball Wives

Shaunie Henderson cleared the air on various rumors in her latest book ‘Undefeated: Changing the Rules and Winning On My Own Terms’ this year. One of which was Henderson’s reality show, Basketball Wives. It has been a hit since the time it started in 2010. However, many believed the success wasn’t because of her merit, but maybe Shaquille O’Neal had a role to play.

In the book, Shaunie detailed the life she had lived as the wife of a basketball superstar since 2000. Having experienced that first-hand, Henderson wanted to show the real life of wives and girlfriends of NBA superstars. 

The mother of five wanted to portray the behind-the-scenes visual of those wives watching their partners getting traded or dealing with injuries. It even captured the other side of getting cheated on by the players with women they met on road trips.

“This was a world I knew well because I had lived in it since 2000… I’d gotten to know the wives as they watched their husbands get traded, get injured-and all too often, get caught fooling around with women they met on the road.”

Shaunie briefly described how she got the idea of the show and how confident she was about it in her book. But the Lakers legend’s former wife also settled the rumors once and for all.

“Before we get too far ahead, let’s set the record straight. Nobody pulled strings for me with TV networks or production companies to get Basketball Wives picked up. I did that on my own, through persistence and sheer force of will.” 

The 49-year-old executive producer also credited her children’s support for being able to pitch the show to companies and getting it off the ground. She even detailed the struggle she faced being an African-American woman with no prior knowledge in the field.

Shaunie did it all by herself and the show has been a big hit. It was picked up by VH1 back in 2010 and the first episode was aired on April 11.  Basketball Wives has had five seasons up until now. Shaunie’s reality TV became such a sensation that it inspired a spinoff, Football Wives. The show has a similar setup featuring the wives and girlfriends of stars from the NFL.