Shaquille O’Neal Offers to Buy $1.64 Billion NBA Franchise Whose Owner Has Strong Donald Trump Connections

Published 06/25/2022, 7:30 PM EDT

Shaquille O’Neal is one of the greatest players ever to have played the game of basketball. The legendary center was a unique mix of size and athleticism. Due to his larger-than-life personality, Shaq was immensely popular among the fans.

Because of his popularity, Shaq had a plethora of endorsement deals during his playing career and he still is an ambassador for a lot of brands. O’Neal parlayed these endorsement deals and intelligent business decisions into becoming one of the richest basketball athletes ever.

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Recently on a new episode of his podcast “The Big Podcast with Shaq”, he talked about buying an NBA Franchise particularly close to his heart. Shaq was talking about Orlando Magic, which picked Shaq in the 1992 NBA Draft. When asked whether he has the money to buy the Magic, Shaq said, “Dennis we got the money. You ain’t got to worry about the money. This message goes out to the DeVos family. If you are ready to sell the Orlando Magic, sell it to somebody that’s gonna take it to the next level. That’s us!”

The DeVos family mentioned by Shaq has ties to former President Donald Trump. The powerful family has made huge political contributions over the years in Michigan, their home state. Betsy DeVos served as the 11th United States secretary of education from 2017 to 2021. In November 2016, Donald Trump announced that he would nominate DeVos to serve as Secretary of Education in his administration. In February 2017, she was confirmed by the Senate after party-line voting by a margin of 51-50.

Orlando Magic – Another rebuild on the horizon

Just two days ago, during the 2022 NBA Draft, the Orlando Magic held the number one overall pick. They used it to select Duke University standout, Paolo Banchero. Till one day before, the draft experts believed Orlando would take Jabari Smith Jr. as the number one pick. Hence Paolo’s selection was surprising.

WATCH THIS STORY: 5 games proving Russ West’s criticism is not fair.

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But Orlando right now has a great core to build around Banchero for the future.

With young players like Jales Suggs, Franz Wagner, and Mo Bamba, among others, Orlando is building for the future. But it is easier said than done. Even with this collection of young talent, they need a coach who can harness this talent. They need one of their young stars to take a giant leap next season. The Eastern Conference is as tough as ever.

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Millionaire Shaquille O’Neal, Who Was Inspired By Jeff Bezos, Reveals Intriguing “Handshake” Business Principle

Do you think the Magic made the right decision drafting Paolo Banchero as the #1 pick? Let us know in the comments.

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Written by:

Nirjhar Sharma is an NBA writer at EssentiallySports. He is a sports enthusiast who follows all major sports and has been watching the NBA for the past 7 years now. A firm believer in the 'Greek Freak' being the best player in the league right now, he believes that the Bucks are primed for another championship run unless the injury bug bites them.

Edited by:

Bagavathi Eswaran

Shaquille O’Neal Offers to Buy $1.64 Billion NBA Franchise Whose Owner Has Strong Donald Trump Connections

Orlando Magic – Another rebuild on the horizon

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