Shaquille O’Neal, the NBA legend, has been making waves on social media recently. A series of photos showing the 52-year-old basketball icon vacationing in Spain with a young woman have been circulating, sparking curiosity and speculation among fans and followers.
The photos were published by the social media account “My Mixtapez,” and they quickly went viral. Just in five hours, they attracted nearly three million views. The caption read: “NBA legend Shaquille O’Neal, 52, spotted traveling with his 21-year-old girlfriend in Spain”. However, there is a caveat to this story.
52 year old Shaquille O’Neal spotted traveling with his 21 year old girlfriend in Spain PIC.TWITTER.COM/CT617GAPUO
— Daily Loud (@DailyLoud) MAY 9, 2024
Robert Littal, the founder and editor of the BSO website, claims that the photos are not new: “This is from 2019. He was 48 at the time, and the age of the young woman with him is unknown, but she was not his girlfriend – just a woman with whom his friends were on a yacht.” Therefore, it seems that not everything is so tantalizingly obvious.
Shaq’s relationships and affairs have always been interesting for society. His marriage to Shaunie Henderson, which ended in 2011, was a significant chapter in his personal life. The couple had five children together, and their son Shareef O’Neal has followed in his father’s footsteps, playing basketball for the LSU Tigers.
Recently, she released a memoir, in which she admitted that she was not sure about her love for Shaq. In it, she complained that their marriage and the NBA lifestyle had taken their toll on her during the marriage’s early years she was particularly happy being a mother and accompanying O’Neal on road trips.
Shaq responded to Henderson’s shocking revelations with understanding and wished her well, confirming that there were no hard feelings, despite the nature of her memoir: Shaquille O’Neal understands where Laticia Henderson is coming from: “I understand…I wouldn’t have been in love with me, either. Wishing you all the best. All love, Shaq,” he wrote on his Instagram profile.
The identity of the woman in the viral photos is not confirmed yet, but Shaq has been frequently spotted with a woman named Annie Ilonzeh. She is a TV show actress who has starred in films including General Hospital, Between Heaven and Hell Until Death Do Us Part, and Netflix’s Peppermint. Her Instagram account has nearly 185 K followers, where she describes herself as an “outlier.”
The photos of the paparazzi from the beach in Spain, where the basketball player was seen with Annie, caused a wave of rumors. It is unknown whether Shaquille O’Neal will go further with the new relationship and marry, but the 52-year-old is definitely not bored.
Whatever the nature of the relationship between Shaq and the mysterious woman, the basketball player is in a good mood, continues to live an active life, and maintain peace with his fans, not wanting to reveal the whole truth. As always, the image of Shaq attracts attention, both on the basketball field and beyond.
