Shaquille O’Neal buys minority stake in Sacramento Kings

Los Angeles Lakers and NBA Legend Shaquille O’Neal, who once referred to his North Cal foes as the “Sacramento Queens” has now bought a minority stake in the Kings.

There are reports that Shaq will have “dinner with franchise centerpiece and new protégé DeMarcus Cousins.”

Sacramento has been trying to keep their team in town, does Shaq’s involvement help save the Kings? Who knows, but it definitely could mend some wounds.

“What interested me in this deal is the new vision, the new Kings, the new everything,” said O’Neal, via the USA TODAY. “I’ve always wanted to be part of something like this. … It’s going to be great.”

ESPN recently ranked the Sacramento Kings dead last on a franchise rankings list of the big four North American professional sports leagues (NBA, NFL, NHL, MLB).

“Worst is at the bottom, which means you can’t get no worser,” Shaq said about the ESPN ranking. “There’s no such thing as worser, which means we can only get better. And we will get better. Once that new arena comes, once that new downtown is up, once we have a conversation with the players and get everybody to step up, they’ll be knocking on the door.

“Hopefully Vivek, with Mr. Mastrov and myself and the team and organization can get it back to where it used to be. I’m telling you these new plans, oh my. You’re going to be like, ‘Sacramento is doing what?’ That’s what we want people to say.”