Shaunie Henderson is living the life of the first lady of a church and made Basketball Wives stand out from the old perception of the NBA WAGs. Now, through her memoir, Undefeated, she dispels the dazzling facade of the WAG life. Before she married Shaquille O’Neal in 2002, she was seen as the bottom of the food chain by the married Lakers women. At that time, the best validation came from the wives of Shaq’s mentors. O’Neal had a friendship with Magic Johnson since he declared for the NBA draft. And John Salley arrived in LA in 1999. It would be their wives who gave Shaunie Nelson a safe space.

Speaking about being shunned by the wives’ circle of Lakers players, Shaunie wrote, “John Salley’s wife, Tasha, was an exception; she was welcoming and warm to me from the beginning, but that’s just her personality.” The MVP, though, was the wife of 3x MVP, Magic Johnson.

“Cookie Johnson, Magic’s wife, was also very sweet to me when I was a girlfriend. She knew how the other wives were treating me, so she would pull me to the side sometimes and show me extra love. I was nobody to her, and she didn’t have to do it, but she did. Cookie is a class act.”

As the story goes, Cookie and Magic met when they were studying at Michigan State. She was with him in the ’80s Showtime era when Magic rose to national fame. They married in 1991 and only two months after their wedding, Magic revealed his HIV diagnosis and retired from the NBA in his prime. Like Shaunie, Cookie had endured a difficult time on the outskirts of Magic’s spotlight. They broke up and reconciled several times before they married. Before his diagnosis, Magic’s reported infidelity was a major sore point in their relationship.

A year into retirement, Magic mentored rookie Shaq, though he was playing in Orlando. In 1994, Magic entered the Lakers ownership group and two years later, O’Neal came to LA. He’d meet film promoter Shaunie then and they’d welcome two children before they married in 2002. During that time, Shaunie had a difficult time where ‘veteran’ WAGs were a source of comfort.

Shaunie kept her friends close

Shaunie revealed in her book that NBA WAGS shunned her at games till she married Shaq. “These wives had seen so many young women come and go that they figured any new girl who didn’t have a ring on her finger would be gone in the next twenty-four hours. Why bother getting to know her or investing in her?” she wrote.

Magic was a co-owner with the Lakers when he mentored Shaq. John Salley came off three championships and an overseas season to join the Lakers in 1999. O’Neal credits Magic and Salley for ‘taming’ him to keep him championship-focused. Their wives, Cookie and Natasha Duffy helped Shaunie adjust behind the scenes.

It’s our loss that we don’t see these three ladies together more often. But when Shaunie created Basketball Wives as a platform for her friends, irrespective of their relationship status with NBA players, she brought John Salley to host the reunion specials. Only Shaunie would count on Tasha’s husband to mediate a fight between Evelyn and Jen.

Stay tuned for more such updates, and to follow what Shaq’s ex-agent, Leonard Armato, has to say about the infamous Shaq-Kobe feud, Caitlin Clark’s Olympic snub, and more, watch this video.