It’s an older story, but definitely funny and worth retelling. If you’ve been following the ShaqFu Radio blog for any time, you know the big man owned a really (really!) nice place in one of the super-high-end, most exclusive gated communities in the Orlando, Florida area. O’Neal sold the place a while back, but recently, a new story about Shaq and his Orlando crib resurfaced online.
Hats off to Yahoo News for revisiting this story – it’s definitely worth the second look. Shaq’s huge (dare we say, Shaq-sized?) mansion in the Orlando area was the big man’s primary residence for several years, especially after his career started with the Orlando Magic back in 1992. If course he didn’t buy this particular home right off the bat after graduating from LSU, but it came a little while later.
The home – complete with 12 bedrooms and 31,000 square feet of living space – was (and we’re sure, still is) an amazing place. Located in the super-luxury Isleworth Golf and Country Club near Orlando, there’s water views both front and back. Of course there’s a full-sized basketball court inside, along with a 17 car garage and lots more… all surrounded by a 10-foot tall privacy wall.
Shaq bought the land for this house in 1993 for $4 million and proceeded to build a custom dream home on the lot. The oversized – or should we say over-deep – backyard pool is a huge affair with a deep end deep enough for a navy submarine.
The BIG Podcast with SHAQ
But here’s the question: Since Shaq did – and still does – a lot of traveling for business, and for this TV work with Inside the NBA… How much use did that giant-sized home ever get? And when he was living there, did he take advantage of all the home and community had to offer? Turns out, the answer is pretty much… No.
Back in 2018, Shaq made an appearance on the then-popular Ellen DeGeneres Show. The two talked about O’Neal’s NBA career, or course. Shaq wore one of his Championship rings to the show, and he let Ellen try it on for size. It almost – but not quite – fit on two of her fingers!
Then the talk came around to the Orlando home. That’s when Shaq shared a surprising fact about his 76,000-square-foot mansion – he only used two rooms. How was that possible? Of course Ellen had to ask what two rooms he used: “The kitchen because I like to eat, and the bedroom because I like to sleep,” he said. Makes sense!
Shaq on the Ellen DeGeneres Show a while back…
Curious, DeGeneres asked, “What about the living room or a den?” Shaq shook his head. “No, I never go to the theater, never go to the gym,” he admitted, leaving much of the house untouched. When Ellen asked how many bathrooms the home had, Shaq casually replied, “I think 15.” DeGeneres joked, “You know you’re supposed to flush the toilets and run the water once a week so it doesn’t smell.” Shaq laughed, admitting, “I never knew that.”
DeGeneres playfully suggested that his housekeeper should be taking care of it, to which Shaq responded with a grin, “I don’t have a housekeeper; I clean it myself.” The audience cheered before he quickly added, “Just playing,” drawing more laughter. Yeah, we wouldn’t Shaq would be taking care of a 76,000 square foot home, either!
Shaq may have had great intentions and plans for the giant-sized home, but it seems that sadly, they never came to fruition. On a podcast interview, O’Neal admitted the house didn’t always bring him happiness. He said he’d hoped to have the house for how wife and family, but then he eventually ended up divorcing his 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.”
Above is the promo video they made to showcase the house when it was on the market.
Originally, Shaq put the house on the market back in May 2018, with an asking price of $28 million. It eventually sold for considerably less. Here at the offices of the ShaqFu Radio blog, we’re a little bummed we never got the opportunity to visit the home, but it’s always fun to hear the big man’s stories.