Shaunie O’Neal and her ex-husband Shaquille O’Neal have the co-parenting thing down pat, and it seems she wants to keep it that way. Shaq, to the delight of fans, maybe not so much.
A recent video of the pair hanging out together was uploaded to a fan Instagram account for “Basketball Wives” Monday, and the way the retired NBA basketball star playfully teased his ex-wife had fans hoping for a romantic reunion.
Looking into the camera, Shaq sticks his tongue out as if to lick his former spouse’s face. O’Neal looks horrified as he gets close to her before pulling back. He then plants a huge smooch on her cheek. O’Neal takes it with laughter.
“Put that tongue in your mouth!” someone exclaims off camera.
Fans who caught the footage on Instagram piled on the praise for the exes and acknowledged the love between them. Some even hoped the pair could work out their differences and get back together.
“Their will always be that SPECIAL LOVE Between These Two❤️💋That A Given….”
“Awww I wish these too could possibly work it out.”
“I wish they get back together @shaunieoneal5 @shaq.”
“They just need to stop playing and get back together.”
In 2007, the former Miami Heat player filed to divorce O’Neal writing in the petition, “The marriage between the parties is irretrievably broken.” The two were married for nearly five years after being a longtime boyfriend and girlfriend and had four children together. Their divorce was finalized in 2009.
O’Neal has previously said the basketball star’s infidelity led to their split.
Since then, the two have managed to have a co-parenting relationship with one another, although O’Neal admitted getting to that point was not easy.
“We’re great now but it took a long time, like we definitely did not have the relationship that we have now the first few years,” she told Life & Style last May. “I mean, we’re going on eight years of being divorced now and I’d have to say the good first five [or] six were really rough. We could function, but it was rough. Now I think we just got over the hump and I’ve always kind of been [like], ‘What’s best for the kids,’ and I’ll make it happen no matter what. Even if he and I can’t see eye to eye, I didn’t want them to ever be affected by it and I think he felt the same way. But it was really really hard.”
After finding a balance, the former spouses have also kindled a friendship, and their bond has led many to urge them to give love another try.
“People are always like, ‘oh you guys should get back together’ — no, that’s not happening,” she told the publication. “We just are cool and we can function and we respect each other’s space and it’s good.”
Still, that doesn’t mean Shaq hasn’t attempted to shoot his shot with her.
A month later, he posed on Instagram in a black suit covered in black flowers as he held out a flower himself.
“This is the same suit I’m wearing when I marry @shaunieoneal5 / @jcpenney XLG coming soon #bigguyscanbesexytoo,” he captioned the post while promoting a JC Penney collab.
But Shaunie shut things down then too commenting, “Actually this suit is more fitting for next seasons star of The Bachelor on @abcnetwork #justsayin #wedidthatalready.”
