Shaunie Henderson has only ever known true love with two men, her father and her new husband, Pastor Keion Henderson. Now, in a place of feeling safe and free to speak her truth, she has published her first book, the memoir “Undefeated: Changing the Rules and Winning on My Own Terms.”
Among her reflections shared in the text is the new perspective she has on her first marriage to retired NBA powerhouse Shaquille O’Neal. The former couple were together for nearly a decade when they divorced in 2011. O’Neal’s wandering eye and promiscuity have long been identified as contributing factors to the union’s demise.
In a new interview with ABC News, the author said that it was the love of her late father that gave her the courage to exit her marriage. “I loved love, right, and I still love love, and my dad kind of instilled in me this safety, like the man in your life, your partner, is supposed to make you feel safe,” explained Shaunie.
Her father passed away in March of 2022, weeks before she and her husband said, “I do,” at their destination wedding. The self-described daddy’s girl said her father was her protector, “and he just always made sure I was safe, and I knew I could go to him for that.”
However, with O’Neal and his affairs, the mother of five — four of whom she shares with the former Los Angeles Lakers star and her eldest from a previous relationship — said the romantic love she once had for him diminished.
“When you don’t feel that at some point, then it’s, you lose the trust, you lose that, that pillow of comfort, and I think I just figured out that you know everybody receives love in a different way, and if you don’t learn that from your partner, then you’re kind of lost the entire time. You don’t find that voice, that feeling of love that you can find in life,” Shaunie said.
The creator of the “Basketball Wives” franchise made headlines in May when an excerpt from the book, where she questioned if she ever really loved O’Neal, began to circulate. She said the passage was taken out of context.
“I thought I was in love, and of course I loved him. Of course I loved him. It was absolutely taken out of context when you just grab that little snippet,” she told ABC’s Robin Roberts.
“But it’s the fact that I lost the trust; I lost that safe feeling. And that’s what I needed to receive love. It was, you know, some people find love in things and providing, and he was all of those, you know; he was a great provider, he was all of that, but I lost that safe feeling,” she continued.
But with Pastor Keion, that love has been restored, and she again has access to the feeling of security that her father once provided. “Now that I have it, I’m like ‘oh, okay so this is in love where I can let my guards down, I can feel safe, I can love in a wholeness’ … I’ve never been happier.”
Shaunie Henderson opens up like never before in her new book, "Undefeated: Changing the Rules and Winning on My Own Terms." She speaks about her relationship with her ex-husband, Shaquille O'Neal, and much more. pic.twitter.com/UZpfDVDIpm
— Tamron Hall Show (@TamronHallShow) May 7, 2024
Last month, the four-time NBA championship winner addressed his ex-wife’s comments about her lack of deep-rooted affection for him. “I understand … I wouldn’t have been in love with me either. Wishing you all the best. All love, Shaq,” he wrote in an Instagram post. The sports commentator has previously declared Shaunie was “the perfect one” and that him being a “d—head” destroyed their marriage.
While he has been romantically linked to people such as reality TV star Nicole “Hoopz” Alexander, actress Annie Ilonzeh, and model Laticial Rolle, to name a few, he has never remarried nor expressed a real desire to do so.
