Is there a chance that Shaunie O’Neal will get back together with her ex-husband Shaquille O’Neal? Even though Shaunie’s marriage to Shaq is what made her qualified to star on VH1’s Basketball Wives, the former couple has been divorced for nearly eight years. But they still spend time with each other as they co-parent their children — and fans will get to see that mom boss side to Shaunie now that her spin-off show Shaunie’s Home Court has returned on VH1. In an exclusive interivew with Life & Style, Shaunie opened up about her co-parenting relationship with Shaq and she revealed whether she’d ever get back together with her ex!

“Oh boy, yeah,” Shaunie said when asked if it was hard to get to the point where she can co-parent with Shaq. “We’re great now but it took a long time, like we definitely did not have the relationship that we have now the first few years. I mean, we’re going on eight years of being divorced now and I’d have to say the good first five [or] six were really rough. We could function, but it was rough. Now I think we just got over the hump and I’ve always kind of been [like], ‘What’s best for the kids,’ and I’ll make it happen no matter what. Even if he and I can’t see eye to eye, I didn’t want them to ever be affected by it and I think he felt the same way. But it was really really hard.”

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Shaunie and Shaq divorced in 2011 and Shaunie has previously revealed that the NBA legend’s infidelity and serial cheating is what eventually led to their split. But now, Shaunie said she is in a good place with her ex-hubby and a lot of it has to do with the fact that she’s known Shaq for 19 years.

“Every man has a pattern — I don’t care what they say,” Shaunie said, laughing. “They don’t like to admit it, but they do. Knowing him for 19 years, I know his ins, outs, I know when he’s full of it and when he’s not and he knows that. He’s accepted that I kind of can run his life and mine still right now — which I don’t, but I could cause I just know him that well.”

It seems like the main reason why Shaunie and Shaq can co-parent together is because he just accepted the fact that Shaunie is the one calling the shots still. The mom-of-five — she shares 21-year-old son Myles, 18-year-old son Shareef, 16-year-old daughter Amirah, 15-year-old Shaqir, and 12-year-old daughter Me’arah with Shaq — can coordinate and organize everyone in her family’s schedules.

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Shaunie and Shaq together at a basketball game in 2005. (Photo Credit Getty Images)

That’s something she did while she was still married to Shaq so it’s just easier for her to continue to do that now that they’re divorced. Now that they’re getting along for the kids, Shaq and Shaunie have even developed a close friendship — so much that their friends think that they should give their love a second chance.

“We don’t have to talk every day but we can share everything with each other if we choose to. I’ve teased him about his relationships and things like that. We can openly talk, which has made it so much easier. I think it was guarded at first for some reason and now we can just talk like friends and it’s comfortable,” Shaunie said. “People are always like, oh you guys should get back together — no, that’s not happening. We just are cool and we can function and we respect each other’s space and it’s good.”