Quitting is for losers, right?
After more than three years on the market, a pending sale in early 2021 that fell through, five different sales agents and a redesign to sweeten its look for another buyer, NBA legend Shaquille O’Neal has finally sold his Orlando-area mansion, the listing brokerage told The Post.
Originally asking $28 million in 2018, the list price for the property, located at 9927 Griffin Court in the town of Windermere, Fla., eventually lowered to $16.5 million when it returned for sale this past March, as The Post reported at the time.
Now, however, the 31,000-plus-square-foot has traded hands for an undisclosed price. The listing brokerage declined to reveal the sum or comment on it. The deal, and its price, also has yet to appear in Orange County public records, and can take up to six weeks to do so, an official told The Post.
O’Neal purchased this home for $3.95 million in 1993, and in later years expanded and customized its footprint.
O’Neal, who hails from Newark, N.J., made a splash in 2018 when listing images of the 12-bedroom home went public. The master bedroom, for starters, came with a round, built-in bedframe measuring no fewer than 15 feet across covered with bed linens that showed a Superman logo — Superman being one of O’Neal’s nicknames. There was also a built-into-the-wall fish tank surrounded by a mural of O’Neal driving a red truck. The eat-in kitchen even had cabinets and the island painted in a distressed-looking pastel yellow.
In its 2021 redesign, listing images showcase a master bedroom with a regular-shaped bed, with the space itself newly painted white for simple viewing. The fish tank was removed from the wall, though the mural remained. The kitchen, like the master bedroom, got a coat of white paint.
Beyond paint, the cosmetic upgrades also included new landscaping.
The property sits on nearly four acres looking out to Lake Butler and in the gated Isleworth golf community. Inside, the new owner — whose identity is also unknown — will have a nearly 1,200-square-foot, two-story great room with a marble fireplace and oversize windows. A formal dining room can fit 16 and comes with wood paneling and moldings. Elsewhere, there’s a sound-proof home theater with a large screen for viewings, temperature-controlled storage for wine and cigars, a showroom-style garage with space for 17 cars and, this being Shaq, a 6,000-square-foot indoor basketball court.
Outside, there’s a 95-foot-long pool that’s 15 feet deep — the latter of which is more than twice Shaq’s 7-foot-1 height. There’s also a hot tub, an outdoor kitchen, a Tiki-style cabana and 700 feet of lakefront.
Benjamin Hillman, of Premier Sotheby’s International Realty’s Southwest Orlando office, represented the listing.
