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Shaunie O'Neal Speaks On Evelyn & Jen's Friendship

Source: Cassy Athena/Getty Images

In the first half of our two-part interview with Shaunie O’Neal, she held nothing back as we grilled her on the behind-the-scenes politics surrounding the ever controversial “Basketball Wives” reality series.  As our conversation continued Shaunie revealed her thoughts on “Messy” Meeka, the state of Jen & Evelyn’s friendship and “Basketball Wives: LA”.

Do you think Jen had a point about Chad being a media-whore?I think it’s absolutely no one’s business. I always tell Evelyn and everybody else, if she’s happy, I’m happy, that’s my friend. What Chad does, doesn’t do, how he does it, is none of my business. As long as she’s happy or they are happy together, I don’t understand why everyone is all like “is it real, is it fake?” I mean they’ve been together like over a year.

But Jen is her friend and had concerns, so it’s not like it’s just the public speculating?

There’s so much that you guys miss because it’s an hour long show and they don’t want to be a dead horse over 12 hours of the same subject, there’s a lot that you guys miss. I think that Evelyn and Jen’s relationship…they are not as close as they were, they don’t talk everyday like they used to. We’re not bff’s all the time. So again I don’t know where Jen was coming from or how Jen was trying to come at it. I know she wasn’t trying to hurt Evelyn. I think Evelyn needed to get something off her chess to Jen; Jen probably needed to get a few things off of her chest to Evelyn and friendships do go on roller-coasters sometimes. Sometimes you fall out with your best friend in the whole world for 20 years but you figure it out and that’s all that matters.

Did Meeka just leave the show never to be heard from again?

Meeka was trying to tape within 12 hours of having the physical altercation with Tami. She didn’t want to leave Rome.  She was all in for coming back and would be all in for another season, but I’m not sure that’s the direction we would take again because it just didn’t seem to work.

You’ve been vocal about not feeling the cast of “Basketball Wives: LA”.  Was the LA show a part of your plans for the franchise? I did intend for the show to branch out.  I always wanted us to go to different cities.  I didn’t know the first was going to be in L.A. beceause I was still in the process of filming season three in Miami.  I knew a few of the girls. Gloria from jump was going to be in the L.A. [cast] and I was fine with that. Her sister definitely was not in discussion, I’m a line drawer at some point. I would never have chosen to take that route.  Now as it starts to film and things start to happen, this has turned in to, there’s some basketball wives, fiances, girlfriends and then you have ‘I slept with a Basketball player at one time in my life and I’m on the show.’  That’s not ok with me.  I wanted some women that actually had relationships with these men that aren’t denied.

We look forward to seeing how it all goes down on the reunion special next week.  I’m predicting Royce, Evelyn and Tami get in to a physical altercation, Suzy looks confused, Shaunie looks shocked and Jennifer watches while wondering if this is how people on food stamps behave.

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