The rumor has been swirling around for ages; beloved NBA player and former Orlando Magic center Shaquille “Shaq” O’Neal has often announced a desire to become General Manager of the Orlando Magic when he retires, possibly sometime after the 2009-2010 season. However, does this idea, which sounds like a drug-induced cockamamie scheme to many Orlando fans, actually have any possibility of coming to fruition?

Not anytime soon, but O’Neal is persistent in his claim that it will happen.

When Brian Hill was re-announced as head coach in May 2005, O’Neal reportedly said, “It’s good that he’s back. When I buy the team in three years, he’ll be working for me.” He has frequently reiterated this statement in one form or another throughout the years, though the general consensus has always been that he was yanking Orlando’s chain, so to speak.

However, O’Neal states that he and fellow Phoenix Sun player Grant Hill are serious about returning to the Orlando Magic. The two have become best friends since becoming teammates in Phoenix last season. After they retire, they plan to go into business together, with O’Neal vying for the position of General Manager of the Magic, and Hill planning to be its President. The only way many people see this happening is if the two buy the team, which they have also talked about, although Magic president Bob Vander Weide says the team’s not for sale.

“It’s certainly something we’ve talked about a lot since Shaq’s come on board here,” Hill told the Sacramento Bee. “I think Orlando makes sense because we live there and we both played there. Ownership is something that we’re both interested in. We know people and we have groups and various people who are interested as well…There’s no clear, concrete plan. But it’s certainly something that when we’re done playing we’ll definitely look into.”

“I’ve mentioned it to [Orlando Magic CEO and president] Bob Vander Weide and he laughs,” O’Neal added. “But I know they love Grant as president…He’s better looking, better spoken, and can do the president. But I can be the general manager. I can get stuff done.”

It will be interesting to see how Orlando reacts if O’Neal and Hill ever return to manage the team, seeing as how there’s still a great deal of animosity among Magic fans against both players; fans are still irked with Shaq for leaving the Magic to join the Los Angeles Lakers after the 1995-1996 season (he was tempted away by a $122 million dollar contract). Some fans are peeved at Hill too, who is also a former Orlando Magic player notorious for not showing much loyalty to the team. Hill spent a large part of his seven years on the team injured and sitting on the bench; after recovering from multiple surgeries, he returned for three-quarters of the 2006-2007 season and then signed with the Suns for $2 million a year.

For the time being, a Hill and O’Neal-run team is still a long way off. O’Neal is contracted for two more seasons, and Hill, who is exercising his 2008-2009 option with the Suns, has given no word on when he will retire.

And as far as buying the team goes, Vander Weide has a message for the Suns duo:

“There will not be any for-sale sign on the Orlando Magic…We have just made a long-term commitment to the city of Orlando and are excited about the new venue and our team.”

That’s tough news for Hill and O’Neal, but seeing as Orlando doesn’t seem to want them here all that badly anyway, it’s probably for the best. As Orlando Sentinel blogger Brian Schmitz put it, “The Magic needed them as players, not as a Starsky and Hutch management team.”