Shaquille O’Neal Only Used 2 Rooms in His 76,000 Square Foot Mansion

A video of NBA Hall of Famer Shaquille O’Neal speaking about what life was like for him following his divorce from Basketball Wives producer Shaunie Henderson has resurfaced online. The clip that’s been circulating is from when O’Neal was a guest on The Pivot Podcast in 2022.

“I don’t make excuses. I know I messed up,” he said at the time before recalling, “I was lost. [A] 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.'”

Of course, hearing about a 76,000 square-foot mansion had many wondering what that actually looked like. Here’s a peek inside Shaq’s former home, plus the only two rooms he said he used in that house after his divorce.

The only 2 rooms Shaq says he used in that massive home

The megamansion, which Shaq sold for $16 million in 2021, is located just outside Orlando in Windermere, Florida. The massive abode features 12 bedrooms, 15 bathrooms, a 17-car showroom, a cigar room, a wine cellar, a movie theater, a two-story great room with walls of glass, an aquarium-style room with a saltwater fish tank, a 95-foot-long pool with a waterfall, and an indoor basketball court. 

So what are the only two rooms O’Neal used? That would be the kitchen and the bedroom.

“The kitchen because I like to eat, and the bedroom because I like to sleep,” he told former talk show host Ellen DeGeneres. “I never go to the theater, never go to the gym.” 

Shaq’s primary residence these days is a six-bedroom, six-bathroom Mediterranean-style property located in the Ridge Lakes development of Rockwall County, Texas, which is part of the Dallas–Fort Worth–Arlington metro area. O’Neal spent several years growing up in the Lone Star State after his family settled in San Antonio following his stepfather’s stint at a military base in Germany. The former NBA big man reportedly dropped $2.3 million on that home.

O’Neal has had a vast real estate portfolio over the years with several properties in not only Florida, but also California, Ohio, Massachusetts, and Nevada.

Shaq doesn’t know why he has 5 houses and 40 cars

During an episode of the podcast Creativo in October 2024, Shaq admitted that he really has no idea why he has a few houses and dozens of cars.

He said: “I have 40 cars and I don’t know why. And I got five houses, I don’t know why.”

He advised people to save instead of spending so much of their money. He insists it doesn’t make “practical sense” for one person to have numerous residences and all those expensive cars. The former basketball star also talked about what he’s learned about success and believes he had to fail first.

“Before you succeed, you must first learn to fail,” Shaq shared. “Every time we lost (a game), I said to myself, ‘Not going to do that again.’ Once I started winning, I knew what it took to keep winning.”