Shaquille O’Neal has confessed to being responsible for the downfall of two successful romantic relationships.
The former NBA player recently sat down with singer Monica for her Apple Music podcast, “MoTalk.” During the conversation, Shaq acknowledged his shortcomings and revealed that he didn’t treat his former girlfriend Arnetta Yardbourgh and ex-wife Shaunie O’Neal with the respect they deserved.
“I had two perfect women, and I messed it up,” he began. “We were all young, and I was just doing dumb stuff, but the good thing about our relationship is that they forgave me, and we have a good relationship now. But when you ask me about the perfect woman, I had two perfect women, and I messed it up just by, you know, being dumb.”
Additionally, Shaq mentions that he utilizes his past mistakes as valuable lessons to teach his sons about the importance of treating women with respect and care.
“I tell my sons all the time a man has three jobs when it comes to a woman: protect, provide, and love … Even though I don’t have a relationship with the women that I let get away, I will always PPL,” he said.
Shaq and Yardbourgh have a daughter named Taahirah together. He also shares five children with Shaunie: Shareef, Shaqir, Myles, Amirah and Me’arah. He was married to Shaunie for nine years until their divorce in 2011. In a 2022 interview with E! News, Shaq expressed that the divorce was the biggest source of regret in his life.
“You don’t know how good you got something till it’s gone,” he told the outlet.
