Save Orlando from Shaq

For much of my life, I dreamed about being the General Manager of a professional sports team.  As recently as last summer, I had made career decisions based on the hopes of one day making draft choices, free agent signings and trades - this time one year ago I was getting ready to start a summer internship in Major League Baseball's Labor Relations Department and continue to pursue this dream.  As I learned more about the sacrifices required to become a professional sports GM, though, I quickly realized that the life wasn't for me.  In order for a non-former-pro-athlete to get a high ranking front office position, he has to sacrifice virtually every other aspect of his life - family, friends, compensation, etc.  In the end, I decided that I'd go a different route within the world of sports business.

People are constantly asking me why making it as a GM is so difficult.  After all, I'm smart, qualified and extremely knowledgable - aren't I exactly the kind of candidate that teams are looking for?  Shouldn't I be able to show my resume, go through a handful of interviews, walk away with a job as a director of basketball / baseball / football operations and be well on my way to being named General Manager in 10-25 years?  While I'd like to think this could be true, sadly it isn't meant to be.  And a large part of the reason why it isn't nearly that easy is because, despite everything we hear about Moneyball and Sabermetrics, former professional athletes with zero front office experience continue to take all of the good jobs.

This week, sources revealed that the Orlando Magic is considering Shaquille O'Neal for its vacant General Manager position, which became available when it fired Otis Smith earlier this week.  No, that isn't a misprint or an article from the Onion Sports Network - it's actually a "legitimate" news story. ESPN notes that, "if O'Neal were to be hired by the Magic, the organization likely would bring in a more experienced basketball executive to work alongside him."  Thus, hiring Shaq as Magic GM would have two negative effects on young and talented aspiring front office executives.  First, a GM job goes to a guy with zero qualifications.  Second, another senior position goes to an industry veteran, further hurting the growth prospects of talented junior executives in the Orlando organization.  Young executives are willing to take jobs that pay $30K per year in order to earn the right to some day have the opportunity to prove themselves in a decision-making role.  Instead, the Orlando job might go to a multi-millionaire with no business experience while dozens of more qualified candidates wait in the wings.

Get ready for a bunch of Shaq press conferences starting this summer.

I like Shaq.  As a player, he was a great ambassador for the sport of basketball and he continues to entertain fans as a TV personality.  He's funny, charismatic and understands the sport - basically, he's got the perfect job right now as an NBA TV analyst for TNT.  I still can't understand, however, how Orlando could hire him as General Manager, or why he'd even want to job.  All we hear about is how teams need to get smarter, embrace new decision-making processes and move away from the traditional approaches that have become stale.  Savvy GMs like Sam Presti in Oklahoma City and Daryl Morey in Houston have taken the league by storm - doesn't Orlando want to find the next young superstar GM who can turn the Magic into another small market contender?  By considering Shaq, the Magic is telling its fans that it doesn't take winning seriously.  Hopefully, the people will speak up and tell ownership that they want the GM decision based on meritocracy, not popularity.