Shaquille O’Neal once brought an incredible mansion in Florida but admitted he only used two of the rooms in the house.
The NBA icon spent a large chunk of his career playing in the Sunshine State with him drafted as the No. 1 pick in the 1992 draft by the Orlando Magic, where he played for four years. He later returned to Florida in another four year stint at the Miami Heat.
Seemingly he enjoyed his time so much on the southern eastern tip of America that he bought a 76,000 square foot home in Windermere. O’Neal purchased the property in 1993 for $3.95million and after years of being listed without success, the house was eventually sold in October 2021 for $11m, having originally been listed for $28m in 2018.
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O’Neal made an appearance on The Ellen DeGeneres Show in 2018 where he discussed his former Orlando mansion. During the chat, he revealed that he only ever used two rooms in the house: the kitchen and bedroom. “The kitchen because I like to eat, and the bedroom because I like to sleep,” he joked.
Curious as to where else O’Neal spent his time in the house, DeGeneres asked: “What about the living room or a den?” To which Shaq shook his head and replied: “No, I never go to the theater, never go to the gym,” he admitted, leaving some of the most valuable and eccentric parts of the house vacant.
DeGeneres continued to ask how many bathrooms O’Neal had in his mansion, having too many to remember, O’Neal said, “I think 15” – setting up DeGeneres to joke: “You know you’re supposed to flush the toilets and run the water once a week so it doesn’t smell.” Clearly something that O’Neal didn’t do as he admitted: “I never knew that!”
The host then quipped that his housekeeper should have taken care of what the NBA icon clearly forgot to do. Leaving O’Neal to reply with a smile: “I don’t have a housekeeper, I clean it myself.” The audience cheered before he quickly added, “Just playing,” seeing those in attendance break into laughter again.
O’Neal’s incredible pad was filled with outlandish features, including a 17-car showroom, a cigar room, a wine cellar, a custom theatre, and a Miami Heat-themed basketball court. However, the house didn’t always hold happiness for the four-time NBA champion as he revealed in a podcast in 2021 that he felt lonely after divorcing from his ex-wife, Shaunie Nelson.
“I built this house for them,” he shared. “But after the divorce, I would come home to a 76,000-square-foot house with nobody there but me. That was the worst part.” O’Neal married Shaunie in 2002 and the couple have four children together. After a previously withdrawn divorce petition, their separation was finalized in 2011.
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