She Will Prevail

We are here today to announce the filing of a lawsuit against Shaquille  O'Neal. Mr. O'Neal is widely perceived as one of the most dominant players in the history of the NBA.  Standing at 7 feet one inch tall and weighing 325 pounds he is one of the largest players to ever play in the NBA. In 2000, 2001 and 2002, playing alongside Kobe Bryant, he led the Los Angeles Lakers to three consecutive championships.  In 2004 he was traded to the Miami Heat where he won his fourth NBA championship in 2006. He was then traded to the Phoenix Suns and now plays for the Cleveland Cavaliers, alongside LeBron James.   

Throughout his career Mr. "O'Neal has used his size and strength to overpower opponents on the Court.  But today, we are not here to speak about Mr. O'Neal's accomplishments on the basketball Court, but rather to announce that he will have to face our client in a Court of law to answer allegations contained in a lawsuit which will be filed today in the Florida Court in Orlando.  

Our client, Vanessa Lopez, stands two feel shorter than Mr. O'Neal and weighs less than 100 pounds (less than a third of Mr. O'Neal's  weight) but she is determined to take Mr. O'Neal on  and hold him accountable for his behavior in a courtroom where his size, money, and power will not matter and where the final score will be determined by the scales of justice and not by how many dunk shots he makes or how many baskets he scores and where he will face an opponent  who will not be intimidated by his size or power.  

Ms. Lopez has known O'Neal and his family since she was fourteen years old. She went to school with his sisters and brother In 2004 she was in a nightclub with a friend and he approached her and bought her and her friends drinks and from there was relentless in his pursuit of her.  He insisted on getting her phone number and called for weeks until she finally went out with him for lunch.   Ms. Lopez knew that he was married but he told her that he had an open marriage and that he remained married for his image and for his children.  He said, " I do what I want and she does what she wants."   Ms. Lopez accepted that and for the past five years she has had a private, intimate, consensual relationship with Mr. O'Neal.  He told her that he loved her numerous times and revealed to her private and personal information, some of which he said that he had never revealed to anyone else. He told her that he wanted to have a child with Ms. Lopez.  He told her that he wanted to always have her in his life.  He expressed his concern and affection for her.  At various times he told her that he wanted to buy her a condominium and an expensive car, all of which she declined as she never wanted their relationship to be based on money.  

This past summer Ms. Lopez and Mr. O'Neal spent a great deal of time together including at her home and at his home. Though she was reluctant to come to his home Mr. O'Neal assured Ms. Lopez that his wife was out of town and said that he did not want to go to hotels with her anymore.  

In September 2009 Ms. Lopez was late with her period and thought that she might be pregnant. She communicated this to Mr. O'Neal who responded by stating that she needed to tell the baby's father and then went on to state that there was no way that the baby could be his.  Mr. O'Neal knew that he and Ms. Lopez engaged in unprotected sex and that they had been together numerous times in the preceding months and that she had not been with anyone else during this period of time.  She felt that his response was very disrespectful and she was deeply hurt and offended. Though he apologized to her for his reaction she told him that it was over and that she wanted him to leave her alone.  He said that he was not going to leave her alone and that he loved her and that she loved him and she would never leave him.  Mr. O'Neal kept calling her and finally Ms. Lopez said that if he did not stop she was going to tell his wife everything.  

This lawsuit involves a pattern of harassment by Mr. O'Neal against Ms. Lopez afterwards which include him requesting an associate to "shut dat bitch up".  Today, Ms. Lopez is here to announce that although she may be small she will not allow Mr. O'Neal's size or power to deter her from standing up for herself.   We remember the story of David and Goliath. Everyone was afraid of Goliath and thought that he was invincible, but, David brought Goliath down with a small stone.  Ms. Lopez does not have a stone, but she has truth on her side and with the truth she believes that she will prevail.