Proper recognition for the achievements of Lusia “Lucy” Harris has been a long time coming, but it happened emphatically tonight at the Academy Awards. The Queen of Basketball, which documents Harris’s unsung accomplishment as one of the greatest basketball players of all time, won the Oscar for Best Documentary Short.
More on Shaquille O'Neal Business
Among the biggest supporters of The Queen of Basketball are two towering executive producers — Hall of Famer Shaquille O’Neal and Steph Curry of the Golden State Warriors. Shaq has declared Lucy Harris to be the GOAT, and an important role model especially for women basketball players.
Shaquille O'Neal, who became a partial owner of the Sacramento Kings in 2013, announced on social media Wednesday that he has officially sold his interest in the NBA club. O'Neal, 49, who retired from the NBA in 2011 and was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 2016, posted on his official Twitter page that in order to pursue a business interest in the sports gambling world, he had to leave the Kings. "As a result of a new business endeavor, I was required by NBA rules to sell my interest in the Sacramento Kings. I want to thank the fans, the city of Sacramento, Vivek Ranadive and the entire Kings organization for our great partnership. I loved being an owner of such a forward thinking organization and I hope to be back someday," O'Neal tweeted. "I was fortunate to have Arctos help me with this transaction. I'm sure they will be a great partner for Vivek, the Kings and the NBA going forward.
Shaquille O'Neal says his former weed business partners stiffed him out of a ton of cash -- and now he's suing them for more than $1 MILLION. The Big Diesel spelled it all out in a new lawsuit, obtained by TMZ Sports, in which the NBA legend claims he and his fellow plaintiff, Jerome Crawford, invested $150k into a new marijuana biz way back in December 2016.
In the suit, Shaq says their investment was supposed to help the company "pursue opportunities in the field of legal cannabis." O'Neal, though, claims that by late 2017 ... the company "seemingly had no licenses, no revenue, and no operations." Shaq says when he and his attorneys pressed for details on how their money was being used, the company initially didn't respond.
O’Neal, who was inducted into the NBA Hall of Fame in 2016, is the co-owner of a restaurant venture called Big Chicken, which launched its first location three years ago in Las Vegas. Last year, a second opened in Glendale, California. Now, O’Neal is focused on sports arenas, the type of venue he knows the best.
Big Chicken recently opened a location at Climate Pledge Arena in Seattle, home to the National Hockey League’s newest team, the Kraken. And on Thursday, O’Neal made a brief stop through New York to get a glimpse of UBS Arena, the new $1.5 billion home of the NHL’s New York Islanders.
One of the sandwiches on the Big Chicken menu is called Uncle Jerome, named after O’Neal’s uncle. Another is called Charles Barkley, an nod to the former NBA star and O’Neal’s broadcasting partner on “Inside the NBA.” Barkley’s namesake sandwich comes with mac and cheese on top of the chicken, along with crispy onions and “Shaq sauce.”
Four-time NBA champion and serial entrepreneur Shaquille O’Neal is releasing his own collection of non-fungible tokens (NFTs) in partnership with Ethernity Chain, the company announced Monday. The release, titled “Shaquille O’Neal: The Eras of Dominance Collection,” will run on Ethernity, an Ethereum layer 2 platform and will be available for purchase on Oct. 15.
Why did you team up with WynnBet? Shaquille O’Neal: Well, I had to divest my ownership in the Kings. I’m a brand partner with the hotel. We believe WynnBET is going to be the next big player in sports betting and igaming space. And I’m all about challenges. I’m all about good business. I’m all about helping people, making people smile and I thought this was a great opportunity to get in this space.
Was it a hard decision selling your interest in the franchise? Shaquille O’Neal: It was very tough. Actually, heartbreaking. Trying to find loopholes around it, but couldn’t. I’ve always been one to follow the rules. The NBA’s been good to me, Adam Silver’s been good to me. I had a good conversation with Vivek, who is a brilliant businessman
Shaquille O’Neal put up enough money to reportedly grab a small percentage of the Sacramento Kings when they were last up for sale. Eight years and an exponential increase in the value of every NBA franchise later, O’Neal’s cashed out. Not because he’s fed up with the Kings, who just happen to have the league’s longest postseason drought at 15 seasons and counting. And not because he had a falling out with majority owner Vivek Ranadive. “It was awesome,” says O’Neal. “To just be in that position to have a piece of a team…I was a silent guy, though. I didn’t want to come and stand in the tunnel and tell Vivek “Do this, trade this guy, do that.’ Hopefully that will come in the future.”
Joe Pompliano: NEWS: Shaq has been named a brand ambassador for @WynnBET and will be the face of advertising campaigns across TV, digital, and print. To comply with NBA rules, Shaq will have to sell his minority stake in the Sacramento Kings. He's up ~250% since he acquired the stake in 2013.
Shaquile O’Neal will make his debut as a co-screenwriter and producer on the short “Headnoise,” mounted through his company Jersey Legends Productions. The film examines the internal and external pressure to succeed, as told through childhood friends Rashaun and Damon, two talented basketball players from the same inner-city neighborhood. Both are NBA hopefuls, but Rashaun is the more coveted pick among college recruitment scouts. Secretly, however, Rashaun’s passion is sculpting — and while his journey to follow his dream is plagued with systemic disadvantages, he is determined to be undefeated by his internal head noise.
“I’m so proud of ‘HeadNoise,'” O’Neal said. “It is my first time writing and producing my own project. I wanted to call attention to what so many people encounter, especially young adults, who deal with anxiety and stress. It was such an honor to create this piece with such a diverse team of people. Everyone should see it.”
Shaquille O’Neal is excited for the future of esports and skeptical of cryptocurrency. “I make investments, not for the monetary reasons, but … if it’s going to change people’s lives — and if I see people enjoy doing it,” he told Front Office Sports. With this philosophy, O’Neal has built an investment portfolio that puts estimates for his net worth at around $400 million. O’Neal’s résumé boasts an extensive list of investments and partnerships, including subscription-based fitness platform Beachbody, which went public last week in a $2.9 billion deal.
There is, however, one venture that O’Neal can’t help but talk about: esports. O’Neal walked his children into the League of Legends Season 3 World Championship back in 2013 and left with a piqued curiosity. “One day I had the children and my boys said, ‘Dad, take us to the Staples Center!’” O’Neal recalled. “As soon as I turn the corner, it’s screaming kids, watching some other kids play video games.” “I never even heard of esports. But 60,000 kids jumping up and down, louder than a basketball game, I knew that this right here, it was going to be the future.”
Because of his straightforward investment strategy, O’Neal is wary of investments that can’t be easily explained, like cryptocurrency. “I always get these companies that say, ‘Hey, we’ll give you $900,000 in crypto to send out a tweet.’ So I have to say, ‘OK, if you’re going to give me a million dollars worth of crypto, then why do you need me?’” O’Neal said. “You need me ‘cause once I put the tweet out and then people go to your site, that’s going to bring you $5, 6-7 billion. But how do I know you’re legit? A couple of my friends got caught up in a little scam like that one time.”
The Los Angeles Lakers legend also spoke about his experiences with the late great Kobe Bryant and The Notorious BIG, and he gave advice for all up-and-coming and established entrepreneurs looking to take their business to the next level.
"I've gotten to know him a little bit and he's a good dude," Feldman told us. "If something can happen, and I hope it does because not only do we want money and popularity, obviously, but we want to do business with people who are really good people. And he's just a great person. He really is. If that deal comes to fruition, which I think it will, it will be a tremendous thing. And then we have some other names who are in the mix."
Shaquille O’Neal made a big statement about inclusion this week. The basketball legend co-founded Majority — an ad agency focused on diversity — with CEO Omid Farhang, former chief creative at ad agency Momentum Worldwide. “Most agencies still struggle to meet a 25% diversity target,” O’Neal said. “We want to flip that diversity ratio to turn the minority into the majority.”
Last month, a SPAC the four-time champion advises took fitness brand Beachbody public in a merger worth $3 billion. A week later, the same group filed for another SPAC, seeking $300 million to acquire a tech company. Shaq has likely amassed a nine-figure fortune, but the exact amount isn’t clear. “My mother would be disappointed if I talk about numbers,” he said.
Basketball legend Shaquille O’Neal has become known since retiring from the game for his prolific work as a celebrity pitchman, working in front of the camera to help brands including Papa John’s and Frosted Flakes win customers. In his latest venture, he’ll be working with marketers behind the scenes. Mr. O’Neal is becoming a founding partner and investor in Majority, a new ad agency focused on serving up talent of diverse backgrounds. The agency arrives as Madison Avenue grapples with a history of inequity amid the nation’s renewed call for social justice, large agencies increasingly take measures to diversify their ranks, and some marketers press agencies to increase the diversity of the teams that work on their accounts.
Mr. O’Neal won’t handle day-to-day agency tasks but will support the shop by joining meetings, networking and reaching out to brands and celebrity contacts as needed, he said. “I’m just motivated to do this in a way to create new opportunities,” said Mr. O’Neal. “A lot of people talk about it. I’m tired of talking about it. I want to do something about it. I just want to make progress.”
The fire happened shortly after midnight February 10. Battalion Chief Douglas Hatcher said then that firefighters could salvage most of the building, after the fire had started in the back. He added that no injuries were reported from the blaze. O'Neal told WXIA-TV shortly after the incident that he hoped "we will bounce back better than ever."
NBA legend Shaquille O'Neal plans to make a serious investment in the Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship. The former Los Angeles Lakers star was ringside for BKFC's 'KnuckleMania' event last Friday, which saw former UFC star Paige VanZant make her promotional bow.
According to BKFC founder Dave Feldman, O'Neal's deal with the promotion is all but finalised. He said: “Now we’ve got one of the most sought-after sports figures in the entire world. Who doesn’t know Shaq? And now he’s going to be part of this company and it’s going to make a lot for people want to be part of the company.”
Mr. O’Neal, who is a basketball commentator on WarnerMedia’s TNT network and owns many Papa John’s Pizza and Auntie Anne’s pretzel franchises, will serve as a strategic adviser. He also owns nightclubs in Las Vegas and is active in esports. In the SEC filing, Mr. O’Neal is described as someone who has “a keen eye for investing in successful ventures, having invested in Google prior to its initial public offering and Ring prior to its sale to Amazon.”
Business Insider: Former NBA star Shaquille O'Neal tells us why he didn't sign a deal with Wheaties, even though they asked him twice, and how he chooses his endorsements
Papa John's is making a big addition to its board of directors: NBA Hall of Famer Shaquille O’Neal. The company announced the partnership Friday, adding that the four-time NBA champion will be an "ambassador for the Papa John's brand." Officials said O'Neal is also investing in nine Papa John's restaurants in the Atlanta area.
Shaquille O’Neal is coming back to play in Miami next week. Play music, that is. The former star centre and four-time NBA champion still has a hectic life in retirement, with work as a television analyst and celebrity endorser and other off-court business interests. He’s also serious about music and will be one of the headliners during the upcoming Miami Music Week — bringing his “Shaq’s Fun House” and DJ skills back on March 29.
O’Neal has studied the art of being a DJ for some time, even going back to his days with the Miami Heat and helping that franchise win its first world title in 2006. His first ‘Fun House’ was in Miami last year, also part of what organizers call the biggest week for dance music in the world. He also had a show as part of Super Bowl week earlier this year.
Legendary Los Angeles Laker Shaquille O’Neal is heading back down to the Staples Center area for one last run at glory, this time with a restaurant at L.A. Live that might be called Shaquille’s.
Basketball Hall of Famer and broadcaster Shaquille O'Neal was named a global spokesperson for Krispy Kreme on Monday, which includes ownership in the company's iconic store in downtown Atlanta that opened in 1965. O'Neal has loved the brand for years, and made a music video in 2009 in which he tempted himself with a box of doughnuts while trying to stick to his "ShaqLyte" diet.
