It seems as though Shaquille O’Neal has changed his mind about vying with LeBron James for ownership of a Las Vegas NBA team.
LeBron is very eager for the league to expand to Vegas, so he can own a franchise.
He said recently, “I think it’s only right. I think it’s only a matter of time.”
In October, Shaq made the bold claim that he wanted to be a sole owner of a team in Sin City, knowing full well that LeBron shared similar desires.
“I would like to have my own group,” the Hall of Famer told The Messenger. “I know Vegas hasn’t been awarded an NBA team yet, but if they ever get to a point where they are awarded a team, I would like to be a part of that. I don’t want to partner up with nobody. I want it all for myself.”
Since then, the big man has definitely softened his stance.
“If there’s ever an NBA team that’s going to come here, I would definitely like to be involved,” O’Neal told The Messenger. “With LeBron, without LeBron, I just want to be involved.”
Just last week, Major League Baseball owners unanimously voted to approve the relocation of the Oakland Athletics to Vegas, joining other sports like F1, NFL and WNBA.
The MBL is reportedly looking to add minority investors.
But Shaq isn’t interested in being a minority investor. He wants to be front and center.
“Not baseball,” O’Neal said. “Football maybe, basketball definitely but not baseball. I want to be involved. There are two types of owners. There’s the owner that just has the bragging rights and I’m the partial owner and there’s guys that like to make decisions. I, at some point, would like to be in on the decision-making process.”
NBA commissioner Adam Silver has said that the league will look at possible expansion once the next media rights deals are done in 2025.
Las Vegas, along with Seattle are the two places that are long-rumored to be on the expansion shortlist.
One thing is for sure, a Vegas team owned by Shaq and LeBron would be the most fun team in the league.