Shaq looking to buy one of his former NBA teams?
Mar 24, 2017; Los Angeles, CA, USA: Former Los Angeles Lakers center Shaquille O’Neal speaks during a NBA game between the Los Angeles Lakers and the Minnesota Timberwolves at the Staples Center. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports
There is not a lot that Shaquille O’Neal doesn’t own these days, but he could be making another major addition to his business portfolio.
The retired Hall of Fame center had ex-Orlando Magic teammate Dennis Scott as a guest this week on “The Big Podcast with Shaq.” In the episode, O’Neal expressed interest in purchasing the Magic together with Scott.
“Listen we still run that franchise,” said O’Neal, per Sports Illustrated. “If they wanna sell it to us, DeVos family, we’re ready to go right now,”
“This message go out to the DeVos family,” O’Neal went on. “If you’re ready to sell Orlando Magic, sell it to somebody who’s gonna take it to the next level. That’s us. D-Scott and then, D-Scott can pick everybody else. Smart people combined with common sense people and people that’s been there before. You can’t go wrong.”
O’Neal, who is worth an estimated $400 million, was drafted by Orlando in 1992 and played the first four years of his career with them. While O’Neal’s departure in 1996 was a contentious one, he kept a positive relationship with the DeVos family over the decades. O’Neal has even said in recent years that he regrets not winning Orlando a championship before Rich DeVos died and that he would have stayed with the Magic if he could do it all over again.
Previously a minority stakeholder in the Sacramento Kings, O’Neal has a bit of experience in NBA ownership. But the DeVos family has owned the Magic for over three decades, and it might require something in the ballpark of the Utah Jazz’s purchase price (sold for $1.6 billion in 2020) or the Minnesota Timberwolves’ purchase price (sold for $1.5 billion in 2021) to buy them out. Still, O’Neal once tried to get involved with the Magic in a different way, and it wouldn’t be surprising to see The Big Diesel now mount an ownership bid.
