Former NBA star Shaquille O’Neal has recently extended a deal with WarnerMedia allowing him to remain a part of its parent networks. This multi-year extension with Turner Sports will see him not only continue his role as a studio analyst for NBA games but expand on it as well.
What We Know:
- The 48-year-old will remain on shows such as Inside the NBA and stick to the NBA on TNT Tuesday Night franchise. According to Variety, O’Neal will also aid in adding content to NBA.com, and he is reportedly developing a new series titled The Business of Basketball for NBA TV.
- O’Neal will have new roles in various new projects with Turner Sport’s Bleacher Report (B/R). He will hold the executive producer position for many of these upcoming projects, in collaboration with B/R, in hopes of creating fresh content that will blend his voice and the brand’s reputation in making a unique experience of combining sports and culture.
“Turner Sports is family to me – and I’m looking forward to working alongside my talented colleagues as we create many more Shaq-tastic moments in the years to come,” said O’Neal in a statement.
- The four-time NBA Champ has been with Turner Sports since 2011, and aside from executive producing, other projects he will participate in are CNN’s New Year’s Eve coverage as a DJ, his own podcast being distributed by WarnerMedia and there’s rumor of a possible appearance in All Elite Wrestling (AEW) during TNT’s coverage.
- The Chairman of WarnerMedia News and Sports, Jeff Zucker, gave some thoughts in a statement Monday. “Shaq is so critical to our success, and such a huge part of the heart and soul of our coverage.” Zucker continued to express the pleasure of having O’Neal on board with their media family and looks forward to what the future holds.
NEWS: The Big Renewal: @SHAQ and Turner Sports Reach Multi-Year Extension. https://t.co/oQDiA4jWjf pic.twitter.com/Omssc3D29s
— TurnerSportsPR (@TurnerSportsPR) August 24, 2020
- Senior Vice President of Talent Services & Special Projects for Turner Sports, Tara August, stated that “Shaquille’s tenacity as a player and loyal teammate made him one of the best to ever do it on the court, and those skills have translated to his contributions as a broadcaster”. She went on to give a list of qualities she and many other fans admire of Shaq, such as his entertaining and infectious personality.
Moreover, it seems O’Neal has his eyes on another project. “I definitely want to get a cartoon going,” O’Neal said to the AP. He addressed the fact that due to Turner having “a lot of entities under their umbrella,” some animated project could spawn from his wonderful and creative mind.
