Shaquille O’Neal recently expressed interest in taking ownership of the Orlando Magic on his podcast, “The Big Podcast.”
Orlando Magic legends, @SHAQ and @Dennis3DScott, are ready to purchase the franchise 👀 pic.twitter.com/9TXHftpGPC
— Be Magic Or Be Gone! (@BeORLMagic) June 25, 2022
In the 1992 NBA draft, the Orlando Magic gained popularity and relevancy when they drafted the 7-foot-1, future hall-of-fame center out of LSU, Shaquille O’Neal, with the first overall pick in that year’s draft class. Before Shaq arrived on the scene in Orlando, the Magic were an upstart team and weren’t very good. In the franchise’s first three seasons, they went 70-176. Their fortunes instantly changed the moment O’Neal was drafted. By the time 1995 rolled around Shaquille O’Neal, Dennis Scott, Anfernee “Penny” Hardaway were playing in the NBA Finals. Orlando had never been better than they were then.
On The Big Podcast, O’Neal said, “listen we still run that franchise [Magic]. If they wanna sell it to us, DeVos family, we’re ready to go right now.” He continued, send “this message to go out to the DeVos family, if you’re ready to sell Orlando Magic, sell it to somebody who’s gonna take it to the next level.”
It sounds like it would make sense to bring in the franchise’s best player they have ever had to oversee basketball operations to help pull the team out of the mud. (RELATED: The Orlando Magic Select Paolo Banchero With First Overall Pick In NBA Draft)
Last season the Magic finished 22-60 and had the second-worst record in the NBA. The only team with a worse record was the Houston Rockets. To say that they need help would be putting things lightly.
It would be awesome to see what Shaq could make out of this struggling Magic franchise.