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His Inside The NBA gig lives on, he became the president of Reebok Basketball, and now Shaquille O’Neal has another line to add to his resume.
ESPN confirms that the four-time NBA champ has been named the general manager of basketball at Sacramento State. Before you can applaud him for having yet another stream of income, it’s actually unpaid, and he’ll be spending more time with his son Shaqir, who committed to the West Coast school early in the college basketball offseason. Shaq knows a thing or two about Sacramento’s basketball culture, having been a minority owner of the Kings from 2013 until 2022.
Big Diesel is only the latest improvement in a program that’s been undergoing a rebuild and suffered a 7-25 record this past season under interim head coach Michael Czepil after longtime head coach David Patrick left the year prior. Now, they’ve got more star power at the head coach position, too, with Kings legend Mike Bibby, who was appointed last month.
Bibby, a 14-year NBA vet, had his most pivotal years, from 2001-08, in the league in Sacramento, so he’s overjoyed to come back and be an integral part in building the school’s new look Hornets.
“It’s a second home for me,” Bibby said of the appointment. “It’s a storybook, not ending, but a storybook story of coming back to Sacramento for basketball purposes and instead of playing now I’ll be coaching and do my best to change this program around and turn it into a winning program.”
Bibby promised to focus on the transfer portal to enlist players, which is how he picked up Shaqir, who was looking for a change of scenery after one season at Florida A&M.
Bibby most recently worked as a TV analyst for NBC Sports and is ready to take the next step after six years at the helm of Phoenix, Arizona’s Shadow Mountain High School basketball program.
The university’s got the youngest president in California school history in alum Luke Wood, and he’s got the school opening a new basketball facility on campus in time for fall, adding to the anticipated season’s beginning.
Shaq is the latest NBA player to sign on as GM of a college program. He joins Steph Curry at his alma mater, Davidson, and Trae Young at Oklahoma.
Details of Shaq’s exact level of involvement haven’t been revealed, nor has he commented.
See how social media is reacting to Shaq’s new role below.