Shaquille O'Neal reveals retirement plans as NBA team prepares for uncertain future with TNT

Has Shaq been infected with the Chuck bug? The NBA pro turned analyst, all-round entrepreneur, Reebok prez, EDM artist and endorsement is thinking about retirement! At least that's what he told Funny Marco. Shaquille O'Neal always said he was happy to keep working. But who knew he was making retirement plans for the second time? These are a little more questionable than the farewell tour he took before ending his NBA career. Maybe the possibility of the NBA leaving TNT made him reevaluate things.

When he hosted Funny Marco The big podcast He had an intense discussion about his life without basketball. Marco felt that Shaq wasn't showing enough emotion on the subject, to which the emotionless big guy replied, “I show feelings for a cause.” This also includes his future plans if he decides to stop working.

“When I turn 60, I'll stop by the old people's home,Shaq said. And not just any place near any of his six children. He has chosen a prime location for his sunset years. “It's a place in Orlando called The Villages and it has the highest rate of sexually transmitted diseases in the country. I'll be there.” This is a very real place. The Villages is the world's largest retirement community in Shaq's popular Orlando. He told Marco that he already had a property ready there.

Shaq is now 52, ​​so he still has a little less than a decade until he joins The Villages. Until then, he'll make the best of it. As if he would keep his job Within the NBA.

Shaquille O'Neal is in no hurry to move on to Plan B

Shortly thereafter, TNT added Shaq as a permanent studio analyst Within the NBA In 2011, Charles Barkley was already considering retirement. Chuck, who has been on the show since 2000, claimed: “Anyone who works over 60 is an idiot.” Nevertheless, he extended his contract with Shaq, Kenny and Ernie in 2015. In 2022 they signed another ten-year extension. Since then, Chuck has repeatedly indicated that he will retire before his contract expires.

However, 61-year-old Chuck is fighting for his survival Within the NBA alongside his co-hosts. Shaq and Chuck recently traveled to New York to pitch ad buyers for the upfront presentation “TNT Sports.”

There, Shaq expressed that he trusts the TNT CEO to negotiate a deal that lasts Within the NBA with all four on air. Still, the uncertainty cannot be put aside as media reports claim that NBC has unofficially secured the NBA media rights.

Shaq's cryptic posts also made fans think that he is resigned to the end of the show, while Chuck wants the show to continue to save all the jobs that are at stake. O'Neal would be far from unemployed or mourning a pay cut. He wants Within the NBA stay because he loves the show. Until then, he has no reason to rush his move to the Villages.