Shaquille O’Neal ain’t down to outspend Jeff Bezos for the Phoenix Suns … but if the billionaire wants to join forces in an effort to own the NBA franchise — The Big Diesel tells TMZ Sports he’s in for that! Shaq says he initially had interest in buying Robert Sarver’s share of the org. after the disgraced owner announced last month he was putting it up for sale — but when he found out Bezos potentially wanted in, he was all out. Shaq explained even with his deep pockets — he’s reportedly got a net worth of around $400 MILLION — he wanted no part in competing with Bezos’ checkbook.
Source: TMZ Staff @ TMZ.com
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NBA legend Shaquille O’Neal took to his podcast The Big Podcast with Shaq this week to talk about how he was thinking about throwing his hat in the ring to purchase the Phoenix Suns. The rumored front-runners include former Disney CEO Bob Iger, billionaire Elon Musk, Oracle founder Larry Ellison, and Amazon founder Jeff Bezos. After seeing Bezos’ name, Shaq decided to bow out completely. “I was open [to the idea of purchasing the team] until I saw the initials JB. Let me tell you something, you don’t mess with James Brown, you don’t mess with Jeff Bezos,” Shaq said candidly. “When the boys come on stage, get your a** and go. So, Jeff said he wants it and a couple of other heavy hitters said they want it. I’m not even gonna put my name in the bucket on this one.” -via Entrepeneur / September 29, 2022
But O’Neal, who has admitted to cheating on ex-wife Shaunie O’Neal, made it clear that he had no intention of lecturing Udoka for his actions. “I’m going to stop this conversation,” O’Neal said on “The Big Podcast with Shaq.” “I was a serial cheater. It would be crazy and blasphemous for me to stand here and say, ‘Boom, boom, bam.’ I cannot do that. I know these guys personally. I know they’re going through a lot, because I’ve been through a lot,” the retired athlete said. -via BasketNews / September 29, 2022
“I’m never the guy that’s going to get up here because of my platform and fake it,” he revealed. “I did it. I was the best at it. I’m not proud of it. I lost my family doing it and I lost valuable and important years with my children for doing it. So, I refuse to get up here and be like ‘You shouldn’t do this, you shouldn’t have done that,” he continued. “I’m not that guy. I’m real with the situation.” -via BasketNews / September 29, 2022