‘I was a serial cheater’: Lakers icon Shaq emotionally confesses his past sins amid Ime Udoka’s Celtics scandal

Ime Udoka’s situation with the Boston Celtics has been a very polarizing subject. Some folks believe that the year-long suspension he was slapped with was too harsh a punishment for his indiscretion, while others argue that it’s only fitting for his violation of company policy. Whatever the case may be, NBA icon Shaq just hopes they’re all able to come out of this mess without any lasting damage.

Shaquille O’Neal refused to speak all high and mighty as he confessed to being in the same situation many times in the past (h/t ClutchPoints on Twitter):

“I was a serial cheater,” Shaq said on a recent episode of his podcast. “It would be crazy and blasphemous for me to get up here and say, ‘Boom, boom, bam.’ I can’t do that. I know these guys personally. I know they’re going through a lot because I went through a lot.”

It was at this point where the Los Angeles Lakers icon got totally emotional as he revealed how his past sins destroyed his life:

“I did it,” he continued. “I was the best at it. I’m not proud of it. I lost my family doing it. I lost valuable, important years of my children from doing it.

“To answer your question, no, it is not worth it. Let me tell you why. The happiest days of my life were coming home and hear six different people say, ‘Daddy, daddy, daddy.’ Happiest days of my life. Forget the money, forget the cars, even forget the championships.”

Shaq went through an ugly divorce with his wife, which ended up with the Hall of Fame big man losing his entire family. At this point in his life, it is clear that O’Neal still holds a lot of regret for the things that he did in the past:

“I was all the way down,” he said. “Sometimes I’m still all the way down, especially when I was in my house in Orlando which is 70,000 square feet. In there by myself. Nobody. … When I lost (my family) by being stupid, it killed me.”