Shaq reunites with his old teammate and talks about various things including pickleball
Old Miami Heat teammates, Shaquille O’Neal and Alonzo Mourning are once again back together. They are giving a massive reason for the Miami fans to cheer once again.
Shaq and Alonzo both helped Miami Heat win the 2006 NBA championship and they again got back together now for a much bigger cause. The duo is partnering up to refurbish a basketball court as part of a $20 million renovation at a youth center in South Beach, Miami, Florida.
Sources say that the renovation project is funded by the Shaquille O’Neal Foundation and its longtime partner Icy Hot. The renovation project is a big part of their Comebaq Courts program fixes up rundown courts.
Notably, Comebaq Courts have also renovated basketball courts in Las Vegas, Nevada, and Newark, New Jersey.
The third and the latest “Comebaq Court” is located in Miami, inside Alonzo Mourning’s Overtown Youth Center. This court is particularly a part of the youth center’s massive $20 million renovation. The project is said to be close to Alonzo’s heart since he founded the Overtown Youth Center in 2003.
The newly renovated basketball court is scheduled to re-open in 2023.
Shaq and Alonzo both said that this is a commitment of theirs to give back to the community. They said that they are rich and famous today because of other people’s contributions and will do their best to help them.
Alonzo and Shaq both talked about pickleball – America’s hottest new sport. Shaq and Mourning both retired a long time ago from their professional basketball careers but they are still hardcore athletes in their hearts.
While talking about the youth center’s massive $20 million renovation plan, Shaq also spoke in length about ‘pickleball.’
Expressing avid interest, Shaq said, “I’m actually looking at investing in a team. I’m still thinking about it,” (h/t: cnbc.com)
He further revealed that Shaq’s son recently came to him with the pickleball investment idea.
Meanwhile, in a growing trend, pickleball is witnessing explosive growth in both participants and investment money.
Some personalities from the NBA fraternity have already invested or have expressed interest in pickleball. NBA stars like LeBron James and Kevin Durant and team owners Mark Cuban and Wes Edens have already invested in pickleball.
Along with Shaq, Mourning said the following regarding pickleball, “I had a chance to play it a couple of times, you know, so it’s pretty entertaining. You can get an incredible workout and you know, so I like it. I really do.” (h/t: cnbc.com)
Moving on from pickleball, Shaq and Mourning also talked about the current state of NBA. They said the league is in a good place thanks to the ‘incredible’ work of NBA commissioner, Adam Silver.
Furthermore, they also said that the NBA players of today’s generation should not forget their younger fans and must keep them in mind while playing.
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