But now she says that she never loved the NBA legend, Media Take Out reports.
Shaunie, the creator of VH1’s reality series “Basketball Wives,” explained what went wrong in their marriage, which played out during O’Neal’s star-studded Lakers days, in her new book, “Undefeated: Changing the Rules and Winning on My Own Terms,” out Tuesday, May 7.
Shaunie and Shaq lived in massive mansions with luxury cars and enjoyed lavish Christmases at the Beverly Hilton Hotel.
“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,” Henderson wrote. “I was in love with the idea of building a life together. I truly did enjoy spending time with him. [NBA] road trips gave me a chance to be with my husband and experience the NBA life for a little while.”
Henderson explained in the book’s introduction that O’Neal tried to be the best husband and father he could to her and their children while navigating fame and receiving a lot of attention from women.
“He was trying to be a world-famous, thirty-something multimillionaire with thousands of women throwing themselves at him, and people in general begging just to be in his presence, while being a husband and a father at the same time,” she wrote. “How could anyone possibly know how to do that?”
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