Who Is Arnetta Yardbourgh? Everything About Shaquille O’Neal’s Ex-Girlfriend
Image source

Arnetta Yardbourgh, MLA, CPCC is the Founder and President of AY & ASSOCIATES, LLC, a coaching, wellness, and consulting firm. She is also an entrepreneur and philanthropist, as well as the former girlfriend of former NBA center Shaquille O’Neal.

Arnetta Yardbourgh has been in the coaching and consulting industry for over a decade; the former Ms. O’Neill enjoys working with small business owners, entrepreneurs, and organizations as an external coach. Yardbour loves working with small business owners, entrepreneurs, and organizations as an external coach.

This social change agent is also a game for engaging in wellness and mindfulness initiatives. Yardbourgh also never shies away from attending sporting events and opportunities to explore new industries.

ALSO READ: Who Is Maria Taylor Husband? She Married For The Second Time

She connects, supports, and builds relationships among professional women in and around Houston with an ever-growing passion. In the following article, learn more about Arnetta Yardbourgh’s life; her childhood, how she met Shaq, why they ended their relationship, and much more.

Arnetta Yardbourgh Is A Texan 

The first known girlfriend of Shaq O’Neal, Arnetta Yardbourgh was born on 10 December 1971 in Houston, Texas. Now 50 years old, Ms. Yardbourgh was born and raised in Houston, Texas.

Arnetta graduated from Judson High School in San Antonio, Texas. She is also a graduate of the University of Houston. She describes herself as a devout Christian.

Arnetta Yardbourgh Does Coaching And Consulting 

As mentioned, Ms. Yardbourgh is a life coach with AY and Associates, LLC. She has over 14 years of experience in the coaching and consulting industry.

Ms. Yardbourgh is also the President and Co-Owner of Sugar Land Legends, an ABA semi-pro men’s basketball team based in Sugar Land, Texas, which she became the President and Co-Owner of in 2012. She is also the President of the FemCity® Houston Chapter.

Arnetta Yardbourgh is also a supporter of women in business as she is a certified Women-Owned Business (WBE). The former partner of an NBA legend at 7 feet 1 inch, Yardbourgh currently works as a professional life coach at Otr Life Coaching, Inc.

She is also a make-up artist at AYA Micro Scalp.

Arnetta Yardbourgh Relationship With Shaquille O’Neal 

From 1992 to 1996, Arnetta Yardbourgh was with her famous ex-boyfriend Shaquille O’Neal. They began dating in high school. She also accompanied her ex Shaquille to the 1992 NBA draft, when he was selected by NBA legend Magic Johnson.

However, they broke up in the mid-1990s, although neither of them has ever spoken about the failed relationship or the reasons why they decided to separate.

When the couple was together, they had a daughter, Tahira, on 18 July 1996. Their daughter graduated from Oglethorpe University, a liberal arts college in the northern Atlanta suburb of Buckhead. Yardbourgh’s daughter graduated magna cum laude with Shaka, top of her class.

Ex-Boyfriend, Shaq O’Neal’s Wives After Splitting Up With Arnetta Yardbourgh

After breaking up with Arnetta Yardbourgh, Shaq began a relationship with television personality, businessman, and philanthropist Shauna in 1998. They married four years later, in 2002. Although the two broke up only a few years later. Shak and Shauna briefly got back together but eventually ended their marriage in 2009.

While together, the New Jersey-born former basketball player and Shaunie became parents to four children. Their first son, Shaaref Rashon, was born in 2000, and their second, Amira Sanaa, a year later in 2001. They were both born out of wedlock.

After their marriage, Shaunie and Yardbourgh’s ex-husband welcomed two more children, Shakir Rashun in 2003 and Me’ara Sanaa in 2006. Shaunie O’Neal, Shaq’s ex-wife, rose to fame after her divorce from the LSU graduate when she created the popular reality show Basketball Wives.

Since their divorce, O’Neal, and Shaunie have maintained a friendly relationship. After Shaunie’s ex-partner, Yarborg began dating Nicole “Hoopz” Alexander in 2010.

Two years earlier, Alexander had won a dating show for the heart of Flava Flava. Shaq’s relationship was short-lived as well; Alexander and the four-time NBA champion broke up in 2012. The three-time NBA Finals MVP’s latest girlfriend is actress Annie Ilonze.

Shaq’s current partner Annie is best known for her role as Emily Foster in the hit NBC series Chicago Fire. The actress and the now sports analyst were first spotted together holding each other’s hands in New York at the very beginning of 2019.

Annie is 10 years younger than her boyfriend O’Neill.

Who Is Arnetta Yardbourgh Married To Now?

While Shaq certainly hasn’t given up his quest to find a stable romantic partner, it’s still pretty hard to say the same for his ex-partner Yardbourgh.

In fact, to this day, there is still confusion as to whether O’Neill’s first girlfriend is married or not. What is more, her social media handles do not say much in this respect either.

Arnetta Yardbourgh Saw A Son Killing His Mother

In May 2004, Arnetta Yardbourgh witnessed her son stabbing a domestic worker to death with a knife in her suburban Houston home. The incident took place at a property then owned by Shaq.

The authorities then charged the woman’s son with murder. The female domestic worker, Alice Williams, who was 37 at the time, and her son, Tristan Williams, were cleaning the house when they started arguing, police later reported.

Tristan then stabbed his mother 18 times with kitchen knives, investigators said. Yardbour, who was in the house, saw the knifing and called authorities, police spokeswoman Pat Whitty said.

ALSO READ: Who Is Patti LaBelle’s Son Zuri Kye Edwards? Unsolved Mysteries

The 5 foot 9-inch Arnetta Yardbourgh and O’Neill were believed to still be together at the time, and their daughter Tahira was seven years old at the time. Although the couple’s only child, Taahira was not at home at the time of the murder.

O’Neill was in Minneapolis, where Los Angeles defeated the Timberwolves 97-88 in Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals.

Is Arnetta Yardbourgh Rich; What Is Her Net Worth?

Although her ex-husband O’Neill is one of the richest athletes in the world with a net worth of more than 400 million US dollars, Ms. Yardbourgh’s info is a mystery. Her former player earned USD 200 million from endorsement deals alone while playing in the NBA.

Even years after his career ended, Shaq is still making millions. What is more, although he has been retired for many years, Shaq still earns around USD 60 million a year from sponsorships and various business projects. On the other hand, Arnetta certainly could not be as rich as her former spouse, who earned US$ 292 million in salary alone during his playing career.

However, Arnetta Yardbourgh does and at least could still have a net worth in the hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Is She On Social Media?

Although Shaq’s girlfriend Arnetta Yardbourgh has an Instagram, she has only posted a post or two on it so far. And most of them are photos of her and her friends.

Until the summer of 2021, though, Yardbourgh was quite active on Facebook, where she still had more than enough posts and pictures describing everything about her crushes, as well as about her life in general.