About a year ago, Shaquille O’Neal was one of the loudest voices in the NBA’s expansion conversation. Even before Adam Silver officially acknowledged that new franchises were in the works, the $500 million mogul was making his pitch- and it was a big one. Shaq wanted a Las Vegas team, and he wasn’t shy about elbowing LeBron James for the opportunity. He even secured a verbal agreement from Mark Cuban to help make it happen.

Those expansion talks have since cooled, and O’Neal’s focus has shifted. But one thing hasn’t changed- he’s never doing business alone. Since 2024, when Shaq was actively campaigning for ownership, he’s expanded his portfolio through partnerships.

He’s teamed up with Craveworthy Foods to scale Big Chicken, launched Shaq-A-Licious XL Gummies with Hershey’s, joined Mark Cuban’s Shark Tank investment in Beatbox, partnered with Jacmel on infrastructure projects, and became the global ambassador for Napoli Basket in Italy as part of Matt Rizzetta’s ownership group. For Shaq, partnerships aren’t just deals- they’re the foundation of his empire.

That’s why when Bloomberg asked the big man, “Do you have any ambitions for having more deeper ownership in the sports world in terms of sports franchises?” He had a clear answer. “Actually, no.”

That’s not to say O’Neal has completely given up on ownership plans. He retold an old story from his time in LSU that formed the foundation of his business empire. “I can remember when I was taking my business marketing class. Professor gave me a book on the side. He said it was ‘The Dummies’ Guide of Starting Your Own Business.’ And my favorite chapter was joint ventureship because I realized that in order to be a great leader, you have to have people that are smarter than you as teammates.”

He realized, “I need to get guys that are better in whatever space I’m trying to invest in than I am,” and applied it in his NBA career, Inside the NBA, and his businesses.

Shaquille O’Neal has never been one to go it alone. From winning championships alongside Kobe Bryant and Dwyane Wade to building generational chemistry with Charles Barkley, Ernie Johnson, and Kenny “The Jet” Smith on Inside the NBA, collaboration has always been at the core of his success.

That philosophy extends beyond basketball- from once being an AI skeptic to now partnering with edtech platform Edsoma, Shaq has consistently surrounded himself with experts in every venture.

It’s the same principle he applies to any potential team ownership. Though for a brief moment, when Las Vegas entered the expansion conversation, he nearly broke his own rule- until Mark Cuban reminded him why partnerships have always been his winning formula.

Mark Cuban convinced Shaquille O’Neal for unlikely partnership

Too many entities were keen on bringing an NBA team to Las Vegas. LeBron James and Shaquille O’Neal were the most vocal in that. In 2023, O’Neal was asked often if he’d consider partnering with his shortlived Cavs teammate. “I would like to have my own group,” He said. “I don’t want to partner up with nobody. I want it all for myself.”

A year later, he steered back to his old business strategy when he hosted Mark Cuban on The Big Podcast. The billionaire had sold his majority stake in the Dallas Mavericks by then. But he had the expertise in running an NBA franchise that Shaq lacks despite his short tenure as a minority owner of the Sacramento Kings. O’Neal asked if he’d own another team in the future.

“If it was Shaq, yeah I’d look at making a comeback,” Cuban stated and then turned it into his own sales pitch. “Yeah, it would be interesting. Now you talk about a movie, would you go in with LeBron or no LeBron?”

Because it’s Cuban, Shaq said, “I would, because I’m the type of owner that I let people run it. To answer your question, I would love to go in with LeBron.”

It sounds like Shaq was reminded he ‘wins’ when he forms a partnership.

A teamup with LeBron, Shaq, and Mark Cuban looks like a winning combination. It’s not exactly set in stone though. Shaq (and LeBron) have until 2027 to create an ownership group for an NBA expansion team and raise an estimated $7 billion for it.

And it might not necessarily be in Vegas as Seattle is a strong contender to get basketball back to Supersonics turf.

If Shaq’s ownership dreams will be realized, Mark Cuban will return to the game, and if LeBron James will be their partner – only time will tell.