By CJ Carlson
Las Vegas NBA Expansion Team
There’s been heavy interest from numerous stars and celebrities regarding a potential Las Vegas expansion team in the NBA. LeBron James is a good example of one of those people, as he has consistently been linked to wanting to get in on ownership if it were to happen. Now, Shaquille O’Neal is jumping in as well.
Shaq has recently stated that he’s interested in getting in on the ground floor and running that team if it were to be created in Las Vegas. Although, he does have specific terms stating that he would prefer to bring in his own group to make the purchase. He also said, “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.” While that sounds incredibly contradicting, I believe O’Neal simply prefers to make the purchase with people that he trusts and knows well rather than just linking up with another wealthy person to get in on the action.
O’Neal retired from the NBA many years ago, but then became a minority owner for the Sacramento Kings franchise from 2013 all the way into 2022. He isn’t reported to have had any front office power with his stake in Sacramento, and now it appears that he’d be looking for some if he were to get involved in a Las Vegas franchise. LeBron is also still very interested and was once teammates with Shaquille in the NBA, yet Shaq isn’t going to wait for him. He said, “With LeBron, without LeBron, I just want to be involved.”
The league isn’t focused on expansion at the moment, but instead they are looking into getting a new national media rights deal finished. Once that concludes, it’s a fair assumption to say that they will at least discuss adding a new franchise to the mix down the line. There are plenty of locations that they could choose outside of Las Vegas, with Seattle being incredibly popular amongst fans.
