NBA legend Shaquille O’Neal had one of the greatest careers we’ve ever seen from a superstar. As a 15x All-Star, 14x All-NBA player, and 4x champion, O’Neal accomplished great things during his NBA tenure. Interestingly enough, a lot of it came in one particular area of the country.
If you add his four seasons in Orlando to his four seasons with the Miami Heat, Shaq spent nearly a decade of his life (and much of his prime years) in Southern Florida and it’s an area of the country he seems to have taken a special interest in.
In a recent segment on the ‘BIG’ podcast, O’Neal further demonstrated his love for Florida by announcing his desire to own an NBA team in the state one day.
“I want to own a team in Florida,” O’Neal said. “You put it out. Anywhere in Florida. I want to own an NBA team in Florida.”
Of course, O’Neal was the owner of the Sacramento Kings for a while before he sold his share of the team last year.
Unfortunately for Shaq, neither the Magic nor the Heat are for sale right now, and it doesn’t seem like they’ll be on the market anytime soon. If O’Neal is serious about his Florida ambitions, he may have to wait years for an opportunity to open up.
Shaq’s Message To The DeVos Family
Of course, this isn’t the first time Shaq has expressed interest in owning the Magic. In the summer, he gave a message to the current owners of the Magic franchise that he was ready to purchase the team.
The DeVos family bought the franchise in 1991 and has owned it ever since. But Orlando hasn’t been competitive meaningfully for a decade now, which is what possibly led to this statement from O’Neal.
“Listen we still run that franchise (Magic). If they wanna sell it to us, DeVos family, we’re ready to go right now… This message goes out to the DeVos family. If you’re ready to sell the Orlando Magic, sell it to somebody who’s gonna take it to the next level, that’s us.”
No doubt, fans would love to see Shaq become an owner again and his influence may even help a franchise like the Magic pull itself out of the gutter.
For now, he’ll have to live with just watching it like everyone else. But don’t be surprised if O’Neal steps up as a team governor again soon.
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