Shaunie O'Neal Surprised By Basketball Wives Firings

As TMZ previously reported, three major "BB Wives" were canned recently -- Jennifer Williams, Royce Reed and Kesha Nichols.

But Shaunie is telling friends, despite the accusations, the cuts were NOT made by her. Sources close to Shaunie (who is also an executive producer on the show) tell TMZ she was blindsided by the news. We're told Shaunie says the production company leaves her in the dark about everything after she butted heads with them over the violent direction the show was headed (i.e on-air brawls and cat-fights).