A360
Shaquille O'Neal made plenty of road trips during his Hall of Fame NBA career. As a result, the big man wants people to know that one longstanding rumor about players and female suitors is actually untrue.
On a recent episode of "The Big Podcast," Shaq's cohost Adam Lefkoe mentioned the perception that players have women looking for them in every city they go to.
O'Neal said in his experience, the women waiting in lobbies trope is actually inaccurate.
"That's a myth. I've been in a lot of lobbies - I didn't see anybody," O'Neal said, via the New York Post. "So I remember I was coming in; they did this ‘Esquire' article about how the girls would be waiting out. So, I was looking for that. Never happened. Never happened. Trust me, I was the baddest on the road. It never happened. You go and you see people."
Former NBA guard Brandon Jennings, who was O'Neal and Lefkoe's guest, agreed. Shaq went on to discuss the struggles of staying faithful while traveling as an NBA star.
"The problem with us is when you live a certain lifestyle, and then it all shuts down, you only know what you know," O'Neal said. "So, if you don't know the rules of commitment, it'll never work. And then, you know, us being not committed, everything is an excuse. Because once you say to somebody, ‘I'm going to commit,' you've got to do your f–king job as a man. Right?"
On numerous occasions in the past, O'Neal has been candid about his failed relationships and the role he played in them.
During this convo, he again admitted his faults, which included an inability to stay true to his partners.
"Once I say I commit to you, I'm supposed to do that as a man. I didn't do that. That's why all s–t has always failed," O'Neal explained.
""But if you live a tiger lifestyle and then you try to become a tame tiger - it ain't going to work. It's not going to work. So, you know, there's a reason why the divorce rate is high. Because we live a - and not all of us - but like, we live a certain lifestyle. And a lot comes with it. And then when that's all stopping, and you trying to go out and look for that, if you don't understand their rules and understand their laws - it'll never work."