Former NBA star Shaquille O'Neal was introduced as an owner of the Sacramento Kings at a press conference Tuesday.
"This is an exciting day for me," he said. "We want to make Sacramento more of a global brand, create jobs downtown. We want to do a lot more." He was presented with a "Shaqramento" jersey.
O'Neal's investment in the Kings, which is less than 5%, is likely as much a marketing ploy to help the team get their new arena than a financial maneuver for the former Los Angeles Lakers great."
ESPN magazine recently named the Kings the worst franchise in pro sports. The Kings responded by calling the magazine's ranking a "nice airball."
Their record during the 2012-2013 season was 28-54.
During the 2002-2003 season, an era when the Kings were a top rival of Shaq's Los Angeles Lakers, he referred to Sacramento as the "Queens."
He responded to questions about those comments Monday, saying:
Here's video of Shaq in Sacramento Monday to have lunch with Kings majority owner Vivek Ranadive and star big man DeMarcus Cousins.