Report: Shaq for sheriff?
HENRY COUNTY, Ga. -- Retired NBA legend Shaquille O'Neal has a PhD in education, he works as a television basketball analyst, he is an honorary deputy in one Georgia county, and he may soon be a candidate for a sheriff in another.
The Hall of Fame center, who lives in Henry County, Ga., told an Atlanta television station he's considering a run in 2020.
"It's not about politics for me, it's something I've always wanted to do," O'Neal said in an interview with WXIA.
He said later in the interview, "When I was coming up people loved and respected the police, the deputies, and I want to be the one to bring that back, especially in the community that I serve."
O'Neal has a long history of volunteer involvement with law enforcement. For more than a decade, O'Neal has at times worked as a reserve deputy for various sheriff's department, even participating during one off-season in a botched child pornography raid in Virginia. He was deputized in Clayton County, Georgia in December.
But in a possible campaign preview, O'Neal even talked about how he'd counter concerns that he doesn't have enough experience to be sheriff.
"I know how to run a team, you know my style is going to be to surround myself with guys that have been doing it way longer than I've been doing it," O'Neal said.