‘Shaq Was Married With Kids’: Gilbert Arenas Shocks Fans With Story About Shaquille O’Neal’s Rumored Romance With Fiancee Laura Govan

Although a decade and a half has passed since NBA star Shaquille O’Neal and Shaunie split, the failed marriage remains to be a hot topic.

O’Neal has been open in regards to the wrongdoings he committed during his marriage and has admitted that he was ultimately accountable for the breakup. One of his wrongdoings allegedly involved Laura Govan, in response to her ex-fiancé Gilbert Arenas. In the remastered clip, the previous Washington Wizards star recalled the moment he first learned of the rumors that Shaq was sleeping with Govan.

“It was in Indiana. There was a rumor going around that Shaq was sleeping with my ex, and I was 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 was that there were two kids sitting behind the bench doing it…”

Arenas then arches his hips to symbolize the teasing of youngsters who’re teasing him about his fiancée allegedly sleeping with O’Neal.

“I hit the whole board,” the previous Wizards star confessed.

Although the Gil’s Arena crew found the previous NBA player’s story amusing, the drama that played live longer than was anything but funny.

Rumors that Shaquille O’Neal was involved in an affair with Laura Govan, who at one point was his personal assistant, began to surface in 2009. “She was his side girl and assistant,” Gil reportedly wrote within the comments section of Lil Duval’s post, According to to KBLA.

Shaq was still married to his then-wife Shaunie, who decided to repair their relationship after filing for divorce in 2007.

In November 2009 screenshots of emailsallegedly between Shaq and Laura, were published by TheYBF. The emails detailed a gathering between Govan and the NBA big man, during which Govan, who was in a relationship with Gilbert Arenas, allegedly got here to Shaq’s hotel room for a sex date.

“Is Shaunie coming with you? What time?” Laura’s message read. The last message from Laura in the e-mail exchange was: “So I’ll see you at 1:30 :~) please delete all these messages.”

Five days after the leaked emails, which dated from December 2008 to November 2009, Shaunie filed for divorce.

Laura Govan remained adamant that the screenshots were fake and that the affair didn’t occur; nevertheless, Shaunie O’Neal further fueled the rumors of a romance between Shaq and Govan in a 2011 episode of “Basketball Wives”, which featured Laura Govan and her sister Gloria as forged members for 2 seasons.

The televised conflict strained Shaunie and Gloria’s friendship for the world to see, with Laura insisting that nothing had happened between her and Shaunie’s ex-husband.

In 2010, Laura Govan first tackled emails. In this issue Sister 2 Sister magazine asked her why it took her so long to handle the rumors.

“I have three children (ages 4, 3 and 11 months) and in between I had a miscarriage,” she said on the time. “Gilbert was going through his own thing, you know. He was first and foremost, and then my children and us as a family. There was nothing more. And just to be clear, we never split up.”

Asked in regards to the authenticity of the emails, Govan said: “We found out who actually came up with the fake emails. Both sides know the truth and that’s it.”

In 2011, when asked if she joined the forged of Basketball Wives to dispel cheating rumors, Laura replied: Loop 21: “I’m not here to explain sh*t. If I didn’t do anything, then I have nothing to explain. I want people to understand the dynamics of what I went through. I’ve never been in the media. Someone else always had the upper hand. This was my time to explain my relationship with Gilbert, my relationship with this Shaunie/Shaquille thing. It’s been three years. We’re still talking about this stupid sh*t? And he’s moved on and has 100 previous relationships, and now he’s got a good girlfriend. Get a grip!”

Govan was then asked to substantiate whether she had slept with Shaq, to ​​which she replied: “Hell yeah! Have you seen his feet?”

“‘How are you going to sleep with someone who has feet like that?'” she continued. “I’ve seen him in sandals. I love Shaquille to death, but I would never sleep with Shaquille. And it’s funny because I feel like when I see him or I’m around him, we just have a good time. We’re like brother and sister. I just think Shaunie (O’Neal) had her own agenda and she was doing things for the show. And she is. But at this point, three years later, I don’t want to talk about him. Talk about someone I really like.”

Even though Laura Govan claims there’s nothing happening between her and her former boss, Shaq… to confess didn’t at all times keep his marital vows.

During an April 2022 appearance on The Pivot podcast, he confessed, “I didn’t protect her and I didn’t protect the oath. Sometimes when you live a double life, you get caught. So I won’t say it was just her… it was just me.”

“She did exactly what she was supposed to do, she gave me beautiful children, she took care of the house, she took care of the corporate stuff,” O’Neal added. “It was all me. Sometimes when you make a lot of mistakes like that, you can’t go back.”

Shaq and Shaunie reached an agreement on all of the terms of their divorce in March 2010. Although rumors regarding Shaq’s alleged acts of infidelity with Govan first surfaced in 2009, it’s unclear exactly once they became involved – in the event that they ever were.

Arenas and Govan have 4 children and were publicly linked from 2002 until their split in 2014.

Fans expressed their displeasure over the matter after a clip featuring Arenas brought the accusations to light again.

“The funny thing is that you can laugh about it now and you came out better. The only person who lost was her… where she’s not now,” one commenter wrote on Instagram.

“Shaq was married and had kids,” a social media user noted.

“He disrespected you, Agent 0,” one fan said, referring to Arenas’ nickname for his jersey number.

“Unfortunately, everyone does it. It’s called basketball wives for a reason because that’s how it’s passed down,” one other person wrote.

In 2022, Shaunie married Houston pastor Keion Henderson. Shaq congratulated Shaunie on her engagement during an appearance on “The Pivot,” saying, “She’s happy now. She’s going to marry a wonderful young gentleman, and I’m happy for her.”