Shaunie Henderson realized that her marriage to Shaquille O’Neal was unraveling long before their highly publicized divorce in 2011 shook the worlds of sports and entertainment.
Henderson, the mind behind VH1’s “Basketball Wives,” details the disintegration of their relationship in her new book, “Undefeated: Changing the Rules and Winning on My Own Terms,” which released on Tuesday, May 7.
In her book, Henderson reflects on the seemingly sweet early days of their marriage, spent raising children and occasionally indulging in the NBA lifestyle. However, she notes, “My marriage was beginning to crumble invisibly.” She compares the deterioration to a slowly progressing disease, initially unnoticeable but increasingly undeniable.
Shaunie and Shaquille O’Neal, who married in December 2002 at the Beverly Hilton hotel during the NBA season, share four children: Shareef, Shaqir, Amirah, and Me’arah. O’Neal also has a daughter, Taahirah, from a previous relationship, and Henderson’s son Myles from a prior relationship adopted O’Neal’s surname.
RELATED: Shaquille O’Neal Reveals Insane Dollar Amount That He Pays for Pedicures
After the couple relocated from Los Angeles to Miami when O’Neal joined the Heat in 2004, Henderson began hearing unsettling rumors, including one about O’Neal owning a condo in Miami Beach. “Take Shaquille’s habit of ‘going missing,'” Henderson writes, questioning his frequent absences given that others handled responsibilities like groceries and bills.
Despite appearances of a perfect life, including luxurious homes and lavish holidays, Henderson admits to a deeper realization: “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,” she wrote. Her enjoyment of their time together, especially during NBA road trips, was tinged with the challenges of maintaining a facade of marital bliss.
In her introduction, Henderson acknowledges O’Neal’s efforts to be a good husband and father amid his fame and the attention it brought. O’Neal, taking a gracious approach, responded to Shaunie’s revelations by wishing her well.
The couple initially filed for divorce in September 2007 but reconciled nearly a year later, only to eventually end their marriage for good in 2009. Their divorce was finalized in 2011.