Miami Heat center Shaquille O’Neal wants to divorce Shaunie, his wife of nearly five years. “The marriage between the parties is irretrievably broken,” says his petition, filed Tuesday by attorney Ira Elegant.
The two have a “Cohabitation/Prenuptial Agreement and Acknowledgment of Property Disclosure and Waiver of Further Disclosure,” the petition says.
In the petition, O’Neal refers to the Star Island mansion as “the former marital home.”
Shaunie, he says, has been “secretive about her assets … particularly with respect to certain properties owned or titled in either her name alone or in other entities.” He wants the court to order Shaunie to give a “correct accounting of all money, funds, stocks, bonds and other securities (including bearer securities)” that she came into during the marriage.
He makes $20 million a year, with three years left on a five-year contract worth $100 million.
Heat coach Pat Riley was “devastated by the news, from the standpoint that actually I love Shaunie. I think she’s a great, great, great girl.”
“I’ve talked to Shaq a couple of times,” Riley said. “I really wasn’t aware that this was going to happen. But he will work it out; they will work it out, as most people do.”
– – –
THE O’NEALS
The wedding
Shaq, 35, and Shaunie, 32, wed Dec. 26, 2002, in a lavish ceremony at the Beverly Hills Hotel. Shaq, then with the Lakers, gave Shaunie a ring with 17 carats of diamonds.
The house
They bought an $18.8 million estate in 2004 in Miami Beach’s exclusive Star Island. It is for sale — No. 32 is asking for $32 million.
The children
The have four together: Shareef, 7, Amirah, 5, Shaqir, 4, and Me’Arah, 1. Shaq has a daughter, Taahirah, and Shaunie has a son, Myles, from previous relationships.
