Shaquille O'Neal is considered to be one of the greatest players in NBA history and while he has long standing ties with the Los Angeles Lakers and is known for his time there, another California franchise will be getting his stamp, as he is now a part-owner of the Sacramento Kings.
The team went under new ownership to remain in Sacramento after it appeared that the team will move to Seattle and now O'Neal is part of the ownership group. The majority owner of the team is Vivek Ranadive and his group of owners now includes one of the most well-known players in history and one of the most colorful and charismatic.
According to ESPN.com, O'Neal had been working with the team as a consultant since the summer and now he is a part owner after buying into the franchise. The original report about his ownership from ESPN.com says that he first came into things because of his "personal relationship" with Mark Mastrov, the founder of the 24 Hour Fitness company and after that things started moving.
O'Neal bought into a small stake of the franchise and now he also will serve a role helping mentor big man DeMarcus Cousins, who is considered by many to be the best young big in the league, although he has had some maturity issues in the past. Shaq and Ranadive were on ESPN on Tuesday and Shaq debuted the name Shaqamento and it's a far cry from the "Queens" name he previously called the franchise back in the day when he was with the Lakers.
O'Neal said that Cousins is an integral part to the future and with a new head coach and new general manager in the fold, things are hopeful in Sac-town. The team has made a number of moves this offseason, including signing Carl Landry to a deal and they also went hard after Monta Ellis and Andre Iguodala, but missed out. Landry is a solid option after averaging 10.8 points and six rebounds last season for the Warriors and the Kings are hoping to turn things around with Shaq in the fold.
