Although a decade and a half has passed since NBA star Shaquille O’Neal and Shaunie split, the failed marriage remains a hot topic.
O’Neal has openly discussed the transgressions he committed during his marriage and admitted that he was ultimately responsible for the relationship crumbling. One of his transgressions allegedly involved Laura Govan, according to her ex-fiancé Gilbert Arenas. In a resurfaced clip, the former Washington Wizards star reflected on the time he first learned about the rumors that Shaq was sleeping with Govan.
“It was in Indiana. The Shaq sleeping with my ex [rumor] came out, and I’m at the free throw line and all I heard was ‘Shaq Shaq Shaq,'” he said on an April 2023 episode of “Gil’s Arena.”
“That wasn’t the bad part,” he continued. “The bad part there was two kids behind the bench doing this..”
Arenas then thrusts his hips to symbolize the kids taunting him about his fiancée allegedly sleeping with O’Neal.
“I hit all backboard,” the former Wizards star confessed.
While the “Gil’s Arena” crew found the former NBA player’s story hilarious, the drama that occurred in real time was no laughing matter.
Rumors that Shaquille O’Neal was involved in a romantic affair with Laura Govan, who was at one point his personal assistant, began swirling in 2009. “It was his side chick and assistant,” Gil reportedly wrote in the comment section of Lil Duval’s post, according to KBLA.
Shaq was still married to his then-wife Shaunie, who chose to reconcile her marriage after filing for divorce in 2007.
In November 2009, screenshots of e-mails, allegedly between Shaq and Laura, were posted by TheYBF. The e-mails detailed a meet-up between Govan and the NBA big man, in which Govan, who was in a relationship with Gilbert Arenas, was to come to Shaq’s hotel room for a sexual rendezvous.
“Is Shaunie going with u? N how late?” a message read from Laura. The last message from Laura in the e-mail exchange read, “So I’ll see you at 1:30 :~) erase all these messages plz.”
Five days after the e-mails, which spanned from December 2008 through November 2009, leaked on the internet, Shaunie filed for divorce from Shaq.
Laura Govan remained adamant that the screenshots were fake and an affair did not take place; however, Shaunie O’Neal further fueled the rumors of Shaq’s trysting with Govan on a 2011 episode of “Basketball Wives,” in which Laura Govan and her sister Gloria were cast members for two seasons.
The televised fallout caused a strain on Shaunie and Gloria’s friendship for the world to see. Laura stuck to her guns that nothing happened between her and Shaunie’s former husband.
In 2010, Laura Govan addressed the e-mails for the first time. In an issue of Sister 2 Sister magazine, she was asked what took her so long to address the rumors.
“I have three kids [ages 4, 3, and 11 months], and in between that, I had a miscarriage,” she said at the time. “Gilbert was going through his thing, you know. He came first and foremost and then my children and us as a family. There was nothing else to that. And for the record, we never split.”
When asked about the veracity of the e-mails, Govan said, “We found out who actually made up the fake emails. Both parties know the truth, and that’s it.”
In 2011, when asked if she joined the “Basketball Wives” cast to clear up the cheating rumors, Laura told The Loop 21: “For me, I’m not here to clear up sh*t. If I haven’t done anything, I have nothing to clear up. I want people to understand the dynamic of what I actually went through. I’ve never been in the media. It’s always been someone else has the upper hand on that. This was my time to set the record straight on my relationship with Gilbert, my relationship with the Shaunie/Shaquille stuff. It’s been three years. We still talking about that dumb sh-t? And he’s moved on and has 100-past relationships, plus he has a solid girlfriend now. Get your life together!”
Govan was then asked to confirm whether she slept with Shaq, to which she replied, “Hell no! Have you seen his feet?”
“How you gon’ sleep with somebody who has feet like that?” she continued. “Like, I’ve seen him in his sandals. I love Shaquille to death, but I would never get down with Shaquille. And it’s funny because I feel like when I’ve seen him or been around him, we just have a good time. We’re like brother and sister. I just think that Shaunie [O’Neal] had her own agenda and did things for the show. And it is what it is. But at this point, three years later, I don’t want to talk about him. Talk about somebody I actually like.”
Despite Laura Govan saying there was nothing going on between her and her former boss, Shaq does admit he did not always honor his marriage vows.
During an April 2022 appearance on “The Pivot” podcast, he confessed, “I wasn’t protecting her and wasn’t protecting the vows. Sometimes when you live that double life you get caught up. So I’m not going to say it was all her… it was all me.”
“She did exactly was she was supposed to do, gave me beautiful kids, took care of the house, took care of the corporate stuff,” O’Neal added. “It was just all me. Sometimes when you make a lot mistakes like that you can’t really come back.”
Shaq and Shaunie reached an agreement on all terms of their divorce in March 2010. While rumors surrounding Shaq’s alleged acts of infidelities with Govan first surfaced in 2009, it is unclear when exactly they became involved – if they ever were.
Arenas and Govan share four children. They were publicly linked beginning in 2002 until they broke up in 2014.
Fans sounded off on the situation after the Arenas clip brought the allegations back to the surface.
“Funny part is you can laugh about it now, and you came out in a better situation. Only person who lost was her…where she ain’t now,” one commentator wrote on Instagram.
“Shaq was married with children,” a social media user noted.
“He didn’t respect you Agent 0 smh,” a fan asserted, referencing Arenas’ nickname he gained due to his jersey number.
“Unfortunately, They all do it. It’s called basketball wives for a reason they get passed around,” another person wrote.
In 2022, Shaunie married Houston-based Pastor Keion Henderson. Shaq congratulated Shaunie on her engagement during an appearance on “The Pivot,” saying, “She’s happy now. She’s about to marry a fine young gentleman, and I’m happy for her.”
