Former NBA Superstar Shaquille O’Neal was one of the most hated players in Sacramento during his time with the LA Lakers. The Kings had a good team in those years, led by Chris Weber, but they never seemed to beat the Lakers come playoff time. Shaq even poked fun at the dominance, referring to the Kings as the “Queens” in one famous interview at the start of the 2002-03 NBA season.
It now appears that the Big Aristotle has become a minority owner in the team he used to torment, according to a report from Sam Amick at USA Today.
“What interested me in this deal is the new vision, the new Kings, the new everything,” said O’Neal. “I’ve always wanted to be part of something like this. … It’s going to be great.”
The Kings were recently named the worst franchise in pro sports and Shaq joins an ownership group attempting to change those perceptions.
New majority owner Vivek Ranadive said, “We are No. 1 in new ticket sales; we’re probably No. 1 in sponsorships. We have a whole list of No. 1s we can tell you about. We’ve sold more tickets than all of the other teams, so that speaks for itself. … They did their study based on last year, and who wants to read yesterday’s newspaper?”
O’Neal also chimed in on the issue.
“Worst is at the bottom, which means you can’t get no worser,” he said of the Kings’ ranking. “There’s no such thing as worser, which means we can only get better.”
The Kings are also looking forward to a new future and a new arena in downtown Sacramento after spending all of last season under the cloud of an unsettled ownership situation and a possible move to Seattle.
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