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Shaquille O’Neal is opening up about his divorce from ex-wife Shaunie O’Neal, admitting their split was his fault.
On an episode of The Pivot Podcast on Tuesday, April 19, the Lakers legend talked all about his career, relationships, and some of his biggest regrets. The former 50-year-old also explained the reason he blames himself for the end of his marriage to Shaunie, who split from Shaq in 2009 after getting married in 2002.
“I’ve never talked about this, and I’m glad you guys asked because I don’t mind talking about this, but I was bad,” Shaq said. “She was awesome. She really was. It was all me.”
While the former NBA star said they didn’t need to fully discuss “what I was doing,” he revealed, “I wasn’t protecting her and protecting those vows.”
The Hall of Famer went on to say, “Sometimes when you live that double life, you get caught up. I’m not going to say it was her; it was all me.”
Shaq doubled down on how much the split was solely his fault, remembering just how much effort his ex-wife put into their relationship before they broke up.
“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,” he said. “Sometimes, when you make a lot of mistakes like that, you can’t really come back from that.”
Since their divorce in 2011, the former couple has restored their friendship. Together, they share kids Shareef, 22, Amirah, 20, Shaqir, 19, and Me’arah, 15. Shaunie is also a mother to another son, Myles, 24, from a previous relationship.
Late last year, the Basketball Wives star announced her engagement to pastor Keion Henderson after the two began dating in February 2020. On the podcast, Shaq had nothing but good things about the couple and his ex-wife’s new relationship.
“She’s happy now,” O’Neal said. “She’s about to marry a fine, young gentleman and I’m happy for her.”