A blast from the Orlando Magic's past has emerged in the team's search for a new general manager -- Shaquille O'Neal.

O'Neal, who began his legendary NBA career in Orlando, may meet with the Magic as soon as next week, sources told ESPN The Magazine's Chris Broussard. While he has no front office experience, the Magic believe O'Neal's presence within the organization could help them retain Dwight Howard.

Magic officials declined comment Wednesday night when asked about meeting with O'Neal, telling ESPN.com's Marc Stein they will not be publicly discussing the process or timetable of their GM and coach searches in the wake of Monday's dismissals of Stan Van Gundy and Otis Smith.

Orlando president Alex Martins was a member of the Magic organization when O'Neal was there as a player and has a solid relationship with him.

O'Neal, who played for the Magic from 1992 to 1996 and led the club to the NBA Finals in 1995, has verbally sparred with Howard over his use of the "Superman'' nickname that O'Neal popularized during his playing career. But sources close to both Howard and O'Neal insist the two privately have a friendly relationship and often send text messages to one another.

In fact, O'Neal often has been a confidante for Howard during this trying season in Orlando.

Like Howard, O'Neal also had a contentious relationship with Van Gundy, who was fired on Monday.

O'Neal played for Van Gundy while playing for the Miami Heat, and was a proponent of having Heat president Pat Riley replace Van Gundy as coach.