Shaq: 'Bring NBA to Australia'

Basketball legend Shaquille O’Neal would love to see an NBA match played in Australia.

In the country for a special event, an ‘Evening with Shaquille O’Neal’, the man affectionately known as ‘Shaq’ said he’d fallen in love with Melbourne and backed the prospect of bringing the world’s biggest league down under.

“I will mention it to the commissioner (NBA Commissioner Adam Silver), I will,” he said. 

“It’s a global game so why should all the games be played in America?

“If I was in charge I would go to a different country every year and I’m sure it’s in the works for Australia.

“I will ask him about Australia and I won’t speak for Mr Silver, but it will get done. I know it will.”

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Welcome back, <a href="https://twitter.com/SHAQ?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@SHAQ</a> <a href="https://t.co/bbfr4AIKUG">https://t.co/bbfr4AIKUG</a> <a href="https://t.co/5YFs1UmUOk">pic.twitter.com/5YFs1UmUOk</a></p>&mdash; The NBL (@NBL) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBL/status/1562011863709523969?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 23, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Asked about the potential of buying into an NBL team, O’Neal said his personal circumstances would be key.  

“In order to be involved in a team I would probably have to be over here,’’ he added.

“So if I meet a nice Australian lady I will get married and I’ll come back.’’

The four-time NBA champion and 15-time All Star will appear in a live interview on Kayo on Thursday, August 25 from 7.30pm AEST.

Click here for the full story >> Why Shaq feels sorry for Ben Simmons