The wife of NBA All-Star Shaquille O’Neal has filed papers with Los Angeles County Superior Court to begin proceedings of divorce.

Citing irreconcilable differences in their relationship, Shaunie O’Neal has moved back to L.A, along with the couple’s children. It is believed she moved back to California from Florida because she will receive a larger spousal support payment on the West Coast, according to Shaq’s lawyers.

Shaq currently plays for the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Courtesy of Geek.com

By Sherri L. Smith, BlackWeb20.com

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Cavs Get Shaq
As anticipated, the Cleveland Cavaliers – hoping to rebound next season from an embarrassing, early exit from the NBA playoffs – have signed the aging, ailing Shaquille O’Neal, ESPN reports. The network first reported the Cavs interest in the seven-footer four months ago. Many experts picked Cleveland, behind the engine known as LeBron James, to win the NBA championship this year. But Cleveland offered little resistance to Orlando’s Dwight Howard in the middle. Shaq, 37, showed that he still has something left in the tank, finishing the most recent season averaging 17.8 points and 8.4 rebounds in 75 games with the Suns. He hadn’t played in that many games since the 1999-2000 season.

Holyfield’s Huge Home About to Go on the Block
Former Heavyweight champ Evander Holyfield’s sprawling Georgia estate is back under foreclosure, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported Wednesday. Unless Holyfield is able to come up with enough to pay off what he owes on the original $10 million loan by July 7, he will lose the 109-room Fairburn mansion. That’s when an auction is scheduled on the steps of the Fayette County Courthouse. Holyfield, 46, has earned more than $248 million in the ring, “but two divorces, several failed business ventures and child support payments believed to total $500,000 annually have taken a toll on his financial well-being,” writes the Journal-Constitution. A father of 11, Holyfield hasn’t stepped in the ring since December, when he was pummeled by WBA champion Nikolai Valuev in Switzerland. The last time he got a real payday was six years ago, when he got $5 million to fight James Toney. He told reporters a year ago that “I’m not broke. I’m just not liquid.” The estate, which has its own bowling alley and movie theater, is worth an estimated $20 million, and according to Holyfield it costs more than $1 million annually just to maintain. “To attack that house in any way, or suggest he get rid of it … that’s just not going to fly with him,” Holyfield’s former accountant Sam Gainer said last June. “That’s his trophy, his symbol of success.”

Phoenix center calls fouls “cowardly.” Will he perform an embarrassing freestyle about Tim Duncan? Will he try and have Spurs arrested upon retiring and embarking on his law enforcement career? Nobody knows for certain – but Shaquille O’Neal says that he’ll get even with San Antonio for using the so-called “Hack-a-Shaq” foul strategy in last season’s playoff games. “The only thing I call cowardly is when you’re up by 10 and do it,” Shaq tells Phoenix radio station KTAR. “That’s a coward move and (Spurs coach Gregg Popovich) knows that, and I’ll make them pay for it.” “Hack-a-Shaq” has been a common defensive strategy by teams who want to slow down O’Neal’s scoring by sending him to the free throw line, in hopes that he’ll shoot poorly.

Baseball great undergoes knee surgery. Ken Griffey Jr.’s got a new team, but he underwent knee surgery using his old club’s doctor this week. Griffey, who was traded from Cincinnati to the Chicago White Sox this season, had an arthroscopic procedure performed after twice having his left knee drained this year. “There’s no question,” Dr. Tim Kremchek tells the Cincinnati Enquirer. “It affected that push-off leg. How much, I don’t know. But he was dealing with it all year. There’s not much you can do early in the season.”

Shaq cancels plans for divorce

Weeks after a Memorial Day weekend photo showed Phoenix Suns center Shaquille O’Neal and his wife Shaunie lounging together on vacation, the couple confirms that they’ll remain together. Shaq filed for divorce last September, calling the marriage “irretrievably broken.” And this spring, he famously rapped about his ex-Laker teammate, saying, “Kobe ratted me out, that’s why I’m gettin’ divorced.” But rumors of Shaq’s infidelity or of Shaunie’s abuse of his paychecks are no longer a factor, Mrs. O’Neal says. “Neither one of us could probably answer why we were getting (divorced) in the first place,” she observes. “Things have been going so great that someone actually had to remind us that ‘Hey, you do remember those papers are still there.’ Literally, it was days ago. So, we’ve agreed that before we leave Florida in a few days we’ll make sure that that’s gone away.”

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Michael Vick’s estate suffers as he serves time

A bankruptcy judge may appoint a trustee to oversee ex-NFL star Michael Vick’s estate while the suspended player serves prison time for financing an illegal dog-fighting ring. A Sept. 5 hearing could determine how the former Falcon’s property will be handled. “It has become clear, since the filing of this case, that Mr. Vick has very limited knowledge of the state of his finances,” wrote bankruptcy Judge Frank Santoro. “…It appears that Mr. Vick has routinely relied upon others to make financial decisions for him, giving them discretionary control over large sums of money.” Vick filed for bankruptcy protection July 7. A former advisor to Vick was recently accused of hustling a church out of $500,000.

U.S. Olympians have a tough weekend in Beijing. The U.S. men’s track and field team had a less than stellar weekend on the track, capped off by Tyson Gay failing to qualify for the 100-meters final. Did the U.S. women fare any better? See more of our coverage at BET.com’s Olympics ‘08.

Clippers’ Brand signs with 76ers

After publicly saying he would return to the Los Angeles Clippers, forward Elton Brand signed a five-year, $80 million deal with the Philadelphia 76ers. Does this mean Baron Davis won’t sign as well? Playa Hatter has the latest.

Shaq, Shaunie O’Neal may be reconciling

Just weeks after he infamously rapped that “Kobe ratted me out, that’s why I’m gettin’ divorced,” an NBA star is cozier with his estranged wife. Shaquille O’Neal, whose “free-style” dis of league MVP Kobe Bryant was broadcast on TV and splattered across Web sites, has been spotted recently with Shaunie O’Neal, from whom he began divorce proceedings months ago. The couple reportedly spent the Fourth of July together in the Cayman Islands. A photo showing Shaunie in a bathing suit as she reclines against a resting Shaq is Exhibit A. The Phoenix Suns center rapped at a New York nightclub last month in reference to Bryant’s NBA championship loss and his reported statements to Colorado cops about Shaq’s affairs when Bryant was accused of rape.

Alonzo Mourning Charities won’t face lawsuit
Attention NBA veterans: The Wynn Las Vegas Casino doesn’t play. The luxury gambling and hotel resort that recently threatened retired baller Charles Barkley with criminal charges over a betting debt has decided to drop a lawsuit against player Alonzo Mourning’s non-profit. Miami Heat center ’Zo’s charity allegedly failed to pay the Wynn in full for a convention bill during last year’s All-Star Week. The casino had first named the NBA, mistakenly it claims, along with Alonzo Mourning Charities, in the $50,000 suit. But spokeswoman Jennifer Dunne says the Wynn’s debt was paid last week, nixing the Clark County District Court action. ’Zo had used the Wynn for a charity pool tournament and silent auction.

Tennis star moves closer in defense of her title
Venus Williams has beaten Naomi Cavaday in the first round of Wimbledon. Williams took out her competition in 77 minutes on Tuesday, moving closer to the defense of her 2007 title at the British tournament. “I felt that my level was good,” says Williams. “I think it’s nice to have a really challenging opponent early on, especially having not played since the French. So it was good to have that challenge early on.” Williams overcame an early distraction to grab the win: “I was about to serve. I felt something on my leg. I looked down. It was a bee, a big old bumble bee. I was trying to get it to go off. I was trying to get it off without getting stung, you know how they usually fly back at you. Then I ended up losing that service game, so I guess the bumblebee got me off to a bad start.”

Sheriff disses Shaq after dis of ex-teammate
Although Shaquille O’Neal insists his “freestyle” against Lakers star Kobe Bryant – circulated widely on TV and the Web – was all in fun, an Arizona cop isn’t laughing. Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio is demanding Shaq’s law enforcement shields, saying the Phoenix Suns center’s behavior didn’t become his special deputy reserve status. Arpaio promoted Shaq to reserve colonel last year, but he doesn’t approve of the NBA star’s public use of profanity and the word ni**er. Among lyrics Shaq delivered at a New York nightclub this past weekend: “Kobe, tell me how my a** tastes.” The dis followed L.A.’s six-game championship loss to Boston last week, which O’Neal attributed to his trade from L.A. to Phoenix. “I want his two badges back,” Arpaio tells The Associated Press, “because if any one of my deputies did something like this, they’re fired. I don’t condone this type of racial conduct.” O’Neal has said he wants to be a sheriff after retiring from the NBA. For more, go to Playa Hater.