He’s talked about it in the past… and he’s talked about different teams. And once again, our man Shaq is talking openly – with CNN, no less! – about the idea of becoming part-owner of an NBA franchise.
Hats off to our friends at CNN for this story. (A link to the complete video can be found below.) In that interview, O’Neal gave a bit of a mysterious answer to the question of joining an ownership group for a team. He has talked about this in the past. Readers of the ShaqFu Radio blog know that O’Neal has talked about getting involved with the Orlando Magic, where the big man first burst onto the NBA scene after being the Number One draft pick after his college playing days.
In the interview on CNN with Becky Anderson just a few days ago (as of this writing), O’Neal first said he didn’t think he was “allowed to say” when asked about ownership. Then he followed up with, “It’d probably be disrespectful to say it, but I would like to go back home. I’ll leave that to the viewers to figure out [what it means]. I would like to go back home.”
What could “home” mean for Shaq? Well, in terms of basketball, the Orlando idea would be pretty strong. That was his first basketball “home” after college hoops at LSU.
There are other options, too. As a young man, he played at a high school in San Antonio, Texas, which of course is the home to the Spurs. As for college, LSU is in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, not far from New Orleans, the home of the Pelicans. Or how about Los Angeles, home of the Lakers, and the place where most of his playing time – and Championship winning – was spent.
Still, it’s not just a matter of wanting to purchase a team, or being on the ownership group that’s taking over a team. A current team owner must be interested in selling, too. And that doesn’t happen very often. Shaq has talked about communicating with the DeVos family, which has owned the Orlando Magic since it came into the Association. He’s reportedly told the family that whenever they’re ready to sell, he’s interested in buying. No word yet on if that’s going to happen anytime soon.
All this talk came as O’Neal traveled overseas to Abu Dhabi, the capital city of the United Arab Emirates. For the first time ever, the NBA was playing a pair of preseason games (featuring the Atlanta Hawks and the Milwaukee Bucks) for the first-ever game in the Persian Gulf region. The games were played at the 18,000 seat Etihad Arena, and the Hawks won both contests.
In the CNN interview, Shaq said he liked what he saw in the UAE, and was considering buying property there. “It’s historic… it’s incredible and I’m going to do my job to let the world know about this, this wonderful place. It’s what I would call damn near perfection. Uh, beaches, the people are very hospitable, the real estate and the fact that the place is only 50 years old and growing.”
Meanwhile, as far as players interested in ownership goes, Shaq isn’t the only one making some noise. Current Lakers superstar LeBron James says he’s had talks with NBA commissioner Adam Silver about his idea to bring a team to Las Vegas.
On the CNN interview, Shaq had good things to say about James’ plans: “LeBron – and his team – has done a fabulous job. He’s a great businessman.”
As with other sports leagues, there’s almost always an interesting surprise each season. Some huge player trade, ownership or location move, who knows? Stay tuned and we’ll see what the new NBA season has to offer.