Shaquille O’Neal set to take GM role

Shaquille O’Neal is, in every sense, one of the biggest figures in the world of basketball. More than a decade on from his retirement he remains a constant presence on sports coverage and he is set to take on a new role in the game.

On Monday evening ESPN reported that Shaq is set to become general manager of the Sacramento State men’s basketball team. His son Shaqir O’Neal will also be at Sacramento State next season after transferring out of Florida A&M in March.

While the younger O’Neal will be hoping for plenty of game time under new head coach Mike Bibby, the elder O’Neal is expected to be more distant. The role will be an unpaid, voluntary position for Shaq.

O’Neal has previously been involved in Sacramento sport through his part-ownership of the Sacramento Kings, from 2013 to 2022. He is now a prominent analyst on TNT’s ‘Inside the NBA’ show.

For Sacramento State, O’Neal’s introduction will add a bit of stardust to the program as they prepare to open a new state-of-the-art basketball facility later this year. Increasingly, college teams are look to bring in big-name players as ‘honorary’ general managers. In recent years Stephen Curry was named assistant GM at Davidson, while Atlanta Hawks star Trae Young has done the same at Oklahoma. Switching sports, former NFL quarterback Andrew Luck took a GM position at Stanford last year.

Sacramento’s basketball program is clearly an ambitious one but they are building on a disappointing showing last season. The team went 7-25 under former head coach Michael Czepil and the college has not made the NCAA tournament since joining Division I in 1991. In that time, Sacramento State has managed a winning season two times.

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