Shaquille O’Neal Says Retiring in The Villages Is a ‘Dream Scenario’—and He Wants To Find Out if the Wild Rumors Are True

NBA legend Shaquille O’Neal has revealed his “dream” is to retire in Florida’s infamous community, The Villages, to discover if the sordid rumors about what goes on there are true.

The 53-year-old former Miami Heat star, who shot his time on the basketball court away in 2011, has been sharing his pro insights as a sports analyst on “Inside the NBA” and his podcast, “The Big Podcast,” which he co-hosts with Adam Lefkoe.

Most recently, O’Neal and Lefkoe welcomed boxing icon Mike Tyson to their studio and lifted the lid on what they want their future to look like.

Although it’s been many years since O’Neal thought about his retirement from basketball, the athlete revealed that he now has his eyes on retiring from his string of careers in general—and is looking forward to settling down in one specific place.

When Lefkoe asked O’Neal what his “dream retirement scenario” is, the basketball icon was quick to reveal that he already had a plan in place that saw him living the rest of his days at The Villages—the retirement community that has become known for its wild goings-on and STD reports.

He began by noting that he always thinks about the fact that he has “seven summers” left until he is 60.

Tyson chimed in, “That’s how you have to think about, and then you have to ask yourself, ‘What am I going to do at the end of my seventh summer?'”

“I tell my kids all the time that I don’t want them taking care of me,” O’Neal, who shares children Shareef, 25, Amirah, 23, Shaqir, 22, and Me’arah, 19, with ex-wife Shaunie, said. He also has a stepson, Myles, 28, from Shaunie’s former marriage.

He also shares daughter Taahirah, 29, with ex-girlfriend, Arnetta Yardbourgh.

O’Neal then lifted the lid on where he hopes he will spend his days after ringing in age 65.

“The dream scenario is: There’s this place called The Villages. The Villages is an old folks’ home, but they have the highest rate of STDs. I want to be there.

“When I get to 65 and I can’t move, take me down to Ocala, Florida. Just drop me off, my boy,” the hoops star said.

The Villages has come a long way from its humble beginnings as a trailer park in the 1970s. Today, it is a thriving, age-55-and-older community that spans 57 square miles—although it looks set to increase that footprint in the coming years.

Last year, U.S. Census data revealed that The Villages was the nation’s fastest-growing metro, growing 4.7% between 2022 and 2023.

The purpose-built community offers its residents a wide array of amenities, including 3,000 social and special-interest clubs as well as activities like square dancing, drama, water ballet, belly dancing, precision golf cart driving, cheerleading, and tambourine tapping.

There are also 14 country clubs, 17 pools, and 100,000 golf carts.

Adding to The Villages’ appeal is its access to all of the community amenities—gyms, pools, rec centers, softball fields, golf courses, clubs, and activities—are available for a fee of $199 per month, no matter the size of a resident’s home.

However, while the community is advertised as a thriving “backdrop where you can live life to the fullest,” it is The Villages’ residents and its bustling social scene that have attracted the most attention over the years.

Many reports and rumors have emerged about the reportedly risqué scene that has emerged inside The Villages—with the community making national headlines in 2006, when WFTV news reported that its Women’s Center had seen a enormous uptick in the number of cases of sexually transmitted diseases.

“One physician at the Women’s Center of The Villages said even in her years working in Miami, she has never seen so many cases,” the report stated.

This quote went viral, and the community quickly became known as the “STD Capital of America,” despite subsequent reporting calling attention to the fact that there was no accurate data to back up these rumors.

Still, the stain of scandal has persisted inside The Villages ever since—with more fuel added to that fire when reports began to surface, suggesting that a group of swingers living in the community were using “loofah signaling” in order to publicly express their sexual preferences to other residents.

That rumor has been traced back to a riff made by comedian Tora Himan, an Orlando-area drag queen who previously performed at The Villages as part of a cabaret show.

A similar whisper that ran rampant involved upside-down pineapples. That scandal saw people on the web claiming that upside-down pineapples in The Villages were a way to signalize swinging.

As of this writing, there are over 800 homes for sale in The Villages on Realtor.com®. The community has roughly 71,000 homes total, with new ones springing up daily. The most expensive home on the market in The Villages right now clocks in at $2.4 million.

The pricier homes in The Villages tend to be on a golf course, preserve, or lake, according to real estate agent April Couturier. The home mentioned above checks two of those boxes and also happens to be in one of the upscale neighborhoods around Lake Sumter.

In addition to big plans for his retirement, O’Neal boasts an impressive real estate portfolio, holding the keys to a slew of multimillion-dollar properties in Texas, Florida, California, Georgia, and Nevada.