Star and NBA Hall of Famer comes clean and breaks the hearts of his fans: “Just lost, no kids. You go to the room, no one’s there”

It’s been almost 15 years since Shaquille O’Neal finalized his divorce from Shaunie Nelson - the woman he married over Christmas in 2002. The couple had four children together: Shareef, Shaqir, Amirah and Me’arah, but things started to go wrong in their relationship early on, as the former Lakers center has admitted numerous times over the years.

Shaq blames himself 100 percent for the breakup, confessing that his infidelity took their marriage to the point of no return. “I was a dickhead. You don’t know how good you got something till it’s gone - and guess what? It’s your fault... I was living the good life” he told People back in 2011.

Shaq, Shaunie and the kids

And despite his riches (he has an estimated net worth of $400 million), nothing takes away the gloom of coming home to an empty, silent house - one that used to be filled with the sound of laughter, “noise and relatives” - the sound of footsteps of his kids. He explains: “Second day. Third day. Fourth day… forever. The silence starts to get to you.”

With his wife and children gone, O’Neal says he still struggles dealing with loneliness - even though he maintains a good relationship with both of his exs and his six kids.

“I don’t make excuses,” O’Neal said on the Pivot Podcast. “I know I messed up and when I didn’t have that… I was lost - 76,000 square foot house, by yourself lost, no kids. Go to the gym, nobody playing in the gym. You go to the room, nobody’s there, you start to feel it. And as you’re getting older and you hear, ‘Shaq ain’t Shaq no more.’”

Shaq looks back on failed marriage: “It was all me”

The former NBA star reiterated that his marriage collapsed because of him: “I was bad. i never talked about this, I’m glad you guys asked because I don’t mind talking about it but I was bad,” he explained. “She was awesome, she really was. It was all me. Look, we don;t need to talk about what I was doing but I wasn’t protecting her and protecting those vows. So, y’know sometimes when you’re leading a double life, you get caught out. So I’m not going to say it was her, it was all me.

“She did exactly what she was supposed to do and gave me beautiful kids, take care of the house, take care of corporate stuff... it was just all me,” he continued. “Sometimes when you make a lot of mistakes like that, you know you can’t really come back from that. But she’s happy now, she’s about to marry a fine young gentleman and I’m happy for her and we have a great relationship. But as I get older and dwell on situations, I can honestly say, it was all me. Because I was, ‘Hey, I was big time’”.

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