Shaquille O’Neal was the most dominant force in the NBA for a very long time. He has won four NBA championships, three NBA finals MVP and the 2000 NBA Most Valuable Player award. Together with Kobe, Shaq was the centerpiece of the Los Angeles Lakers‘ three-peat team. Therefore, he was always at the forefront of LA’s glamorous social life. For that reason, his dating life attracted heavy scrutiny.

The 7’1″ giant has always dated women much shorter than him. O’Neal finally opened up about the real reason behind his preference.

Shaq’s relationships and affairs were the subject of a lot of tabloid gossip and speculation. After his divorce was finalized in 2011 with Shaunie O’Neal, Shaq assumed full responsibility for his scandalous lifestyle choices off the court.

Shaquille O’Neal doesn’t date big people

In the most recent episode of The Big Podcast with Shaq, the Big Man returned from covering the Western Conference finals to talk about a boatload of stuff, including his dating preferences. The conversation slowly veered from the NBA to obesity.

Co-host Nischelle Turner asked if Shaq has asked any of his partners to lose weight. In response, Shaq openly admitted that he “big-scriminates“, “I don’t date big people“.

“There can’t be two big people laying in my bed“, he added.

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Shaq further explained that he doesn’t date women taller than 6’5″. His ideal partner’s size is somewhere between 4’11” and 6’4″.

Meanwhile, Nischelle kept pressing the Big Man about his dating preferences. She also brought up Shaq calling Charles Barkley ‘Santa Claus’ on the TNT broadcast.

Therefore, Shaq finally revealed the real reason why he dated smaller women, “I date little mamas so they can climb Mount Shaqmore“.

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The entire crew burst out laughing. And Nischelle had to end the episode there.

Shaq and his partners

Shaq has always dated women much smaller in size than him despite being 7’1″. His former spouse Shaunie O’Neal is a little over 5’6″.

One of the most popular women Shaq has dated is TV actress Nicole Alexander. She’s only 5 feet 2 inches tall. Shaq with his gigantic body is almost 2 full feet taller than her.

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The ‘Big Diesel’ is currently dating actress Annie Ilonzeh, who’s 5’6″ tall.