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Shaq says he wants to buy an NBA team, but not the Suns

TV analyst Shaquille O'Neal. Darren Yamashita-USA TODAY Sports

Shaquille O'Neal says he wants to buy an NBA team, but not the Suns

By Sean Keane | Last updated 10/10/22

While visiting Abu Dhabi for the NBA's preseason games between the Atlanta Hawks and Milwaukee Bucks, Hall of Famer Shaquille O'Neal told CNN that he's interested in buying an NBA team — but he won't say which one.

“I don’t know if I’m allowed to say,” Shaq told CNN's Becky Anderson, when asked about which team he was interested in buying. “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. I would like to go back home.”

We know that the home he's talking about is not Phoenix, where O'Neal was a member of the Suns from 2007-09. On his podcast last week, O'Neal implied he'd be Shaqtin' a fool to bid once he learned billionaire Jeff Bezos was interested in the club, which disgraced owner Robert Sarver announced he was selling last month.

"Jeff said he wants it, and a couple of other heavy hitters said they want it. I’m not even going to put my name in the bucket on this one. I’m not," Shaq announced on "The Big Podcast."

But if Shaq wants to "go home," he could well be talking about San Antonio Texas, where O'Neal went to high school. He starred in basketball, and famously made up a story about Spurs' star David Robinson stiffing him for an autograph as a child, in order to motivate himself when he played the Spurs. He told the story for years before coming clean.

Why the Spurs? It could be that the team's current chairman and controlling owner is Julianna Hawn Holt, and she recently finalized her divorce with the team's previous controlling owner, her ex-husband Peter M. Holt. That divides the Holt's primary ownership shares, plus their son, Peter J. Holt, recently had to reassure fans that the team wasn't planning to move from San Antonio, after the team asked to play more "home" games in Austin and in Mexico City. Currently, the Spurs have an agreement that forbids them from relocating through the 2031-32 season.

Should the Spurs threaten to move, who would be better to buy the team for his Texas hometown than the Big Aristotle himself, Shaquille O'Neal? Obviously they'd start selling Papa John's pizza and Icy-Hot in the arena after the sale went through.

As for NBA teams in Shaq's other "homes," those team purchases seem less likely. The DeVos family hasn't shown any interest in selling the Orlando Magic, nor has Gayle Benson discussed selling the New Orleans Pelicans, who play down the road from Shaq's alma mater, LSU. And while the Atlanta Hawks recently sold a 6% stake in the team, that's generally a sign the ownership group isn't looking to sell off the whole franchise.

Of course, it's possible that Shaq actually feels at home in Las Vegas, like many NBA players. In that case, perhaps he and LeBron can both go in on the NBA's rumored expansion team in Sin City.

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