Spying on a partner's phone is a popular debate topic among couples in this age of mobile phones, the internet, and social media. It's an issue that is tied to trust and insecurity between partners.
During his appearance on the third episode of the new "Nitty Gritty with Nat" podcast with actress Natalie Friedman, NBA legend Shaquille O'Neal , who's had his share of high-profile relationships, gave his opinion on the controversial subject when Friedman asked if he would invest in a hypothetical AI system called "Post Nut Clarity" which would automatically scan a man's phone and block particular types of women from his Instagram account so that he can't message them.
"Not all men have that in their phone," explained Shaq. "So you putting all of us in the same category, and that's not fair. Second of all, it causes problems because what y'all don't understand, with y'all being the emotional beings, sometimes y'all see stuff and y'all don't know what y'all reading and y'all just go crazy without having the full information. If you look at all the detective movies out there, the first clue is not always the clue that solves the crime."
According to O'Neal, what you see on a man's phone isn't necessarily what you think it is. A name or message may be suspicious, but without context, it can be misinterpreted. For example, Shaq said that a contact on a phone might be written as BB; however, it does not necessarily mean it's a "big booty hoe" because it might be an individual's real initials.
Personally, Shaquille explained that he's been using the same phone number for the last 40 years, so there are contacts in his phone that have been there for decades. However, just because they are still there doesn't mean that he still connects with them.
So if you find the numbers of his exes on his contacts list, that doesn't mean he still has relationships with any of them. O'Neal went on to say that snooping on a man's phone should depend on how he is treating his woman.
"You also have to base it on your relationship," Shaq added . "How does this man treat me? Is he doing weird stuff? If he's doing weird stuff, you should probably go with your gut. But if he's treating you like he's supposed to be treating you, why are you looking for trouble? So don't be scanning the man's phone. Don't go looking for trouble."
Conversely, Shaq explained to Sarah Fontenot on "The Giving Podcast" last year that he wouldn't know whether his girlfriend or the woman she is dating is in love with another man because he doesn't snoop on her phone. After all, the Diesel is sure and confident of himself as a man and men who do it are emasculated .
"I wouldn't know that because I wouldn't check Sarah's phone," he quipped . " If I'm sitting here and Sarah's phone goes off, I'm not going to look. Because I know what I do. In my mind, I know what I do. She's not going nowhere because I fill all the boxes... There's an old saying that holds true: If you look for something, you'll find it. But you need to know what you're looking at."
Shaq makes excellent points on the tricky subject — that's why he's known as the Big Aristotle. But while Shaq's views make a lot of sense, it's crazy he said those because remember that his ex-wife Shaunie said she found out that he was cheating on her when they inadvertently swapped Blackberry phones , and the one she brought with her received one message after another from different women.
This story was originally published by Basketball Network on Jun 15, 2026, where it first appeared in the Off The Court section. Add Basketball Network as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
