Shaquille O'Neal played for six teams in his 19-year Hall of Fame career, but none of them were the Knicks.

But according to him, if he was a young superstar in 2019, New York would be a destination.

"I never understood why top-name players wouldn't want to come here," O'Neal told TMZ. "If I was a youngster, Madison Avenue would be turning into Shaq Avenue."

Next year's free-agent class features some of the biggest names in today's NBA, including stars like Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving, Kawhi Leonard, Jimmy Butler, Klay Thompson and Kemba Walker.

And O'Neal thinks New York offers much more than the opportunity to play basketball at the Mecca alongside Kristaps Porzingis, Kevin Knox and whoever they draft in June.

"People always talk about business and business after basketball," he said. "[The] Knicks don't have a star player, so any superstar that comes there, Madison Avenue is going to open up them doors."

The Knicks hope to clear enough salary cap to offer a max contract to have one of the elite free agents join them next season. Speculation will surely continue over the next several months.

And perhaps one of them can change the name of Madison Avenue.

Popular in the Community