http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6954320/ Shaq an owner? Only if it's the Magic On Lakers return, only for ?100 million for two months, tax free, and no practices Shaquille O'Neal says he wouldn't mind being an NBA owner, but only if it's with the Orlando Magic. The Associated Press Updated: 2:00 a.m. ET Feb. 12, 2005 Shaquille O’Neal wants to own a piece of the Orlando Magic, and he’d return to the Los Angeles Lakers with a few conditions ??100 million for two months, tax free, and no practices.? O’Neal was alternately serious and silly earlier this week as he met with reporters in New York prior to the Miami Heat’s fourth straight victory, an overtime win over the Knicks that improved the Eastern Conference’s best record to 37-14. The line about rejoining the Lakers was obviously a joke, but Shaq’s tone was serious when he discussed possibly putting together a group of investors to purchase an NBA team. And the only team he’d be interested in, O’Neal said, is Orlando. “It’s not that (other teams) don’t appeal. It’s just that I live in Orlando, my family lives in Orlando and they have a player (Dwight Howard) that’s pretty good that we can build the franchise around,?he said. The Magic are trying to have a new arena built to replace the TD Waterhouse Center built in 1989, although Orlando mayor Buddy Dyer has proposed a renovation of the current building. “I know I can get the city to get that money together so we can get a new arena,?O’Neal declared. “If I had an opportunity to put a group together and buy that team, I would buy that team. But if that’s not the case, I will be a U.S. marshal, an FBI agent or an ATF agent.? First, of course, there’s the matter of O’Neal’s current career, which is progressing quite nicely in his new home in South Florida. Miami has trounced the competition in its own conference, going 26-4 against the East and 11-10 against the West, and its recent run of seven victories in eight games helped give the Heat a six-game lead over its closest pursuer in the conference. “Sometimes we don’t have the killer instinct that we should have, sometimes we’re not as focused as we should be. But I think for a first-year team we’re doing pretty good,?O’Neal said. “Learning’s an adjustment to all of us. Michael Jordan told me that before you succeed you must first learn to fail. This is new to everyone in this organization ?maybe not to me, but it is to everyone else.?
