Shaquille O’Neal Offers to Manage New Jersey Nets If Team Stays in Newark

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Oct 7, 2010

Shaquille O’Neal was born in Newark, N.J., but he left his childhood hometown to pursue bigger and better things. He was a basketball standout at Robert G. Cole High School in San Antonio, and later at Louisiana State.

There’s nothing wrong with leaving Newark — it was a great career move for Shaq. But on Thursday, the legendary center spoke out against the New Jersey Nets making a similar move.

The Nets plan to leave the Garden State in 2012, as soon as their new arena in Brooklyn is completed. Shaq wants no part of it.

“I would have liked to see the new owner get with the guy who built the arena and keep the Nets there,” the center told the Bergen County Record in New Jersey. “I don’t want to see the team go to Brooklyn. Maybe the two heads can get together, they can do that and I can come down there and become general manager. I think [owner Mikhail Prokhorov], the beautiful Russian guy, should get with the people of the arena and the other people and me, and we should get it done.”

O’Neal spent nearly 14 years of his life in Newark. He lived there from his birth in 1972 until his enrollment at Cole High for the 1985-86 season. The Nets have been in New Jersey for 43 years, starting in 1967 when they were established as the New Jersey Americans of the ABA.

But Shaq, NBA journeyman of six different teams over two decades, wants to teach the Nets a thing or two about loyalty. It’s unlikely that they’ll listen.

NESN.com will showcase one Moment of Shaq every day until the Celtics open the season against the Heat on Oct. 26 at the TD Garden.

Wednesday, Oct. 6: Shaq plans to be a statue in Harvard Square.

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