It’s not the first time that Shaquille O’Neal turned down a big-money deal. Back in 1998, he walked away from Reebok’s $40 million deal after a hassled mother scolded him for selling overpriced sneakers. This resulted in him starting his Shaq brand and selling the shoes at just $40. The Lakers legend sold 100 million pairs of his sneakers through Walmart and Lowe’s. With that success, he was back at Reebok in 2021 with a fresh outlook and a new title.
The Big Aristotle took over the reins as the president of basketball operations for Reebok. He got Allen Iverson as his VP to create the dominance that they created in the 90s. Despite the dream duo being back, they had a handicap. “The good thing about my pace is I always move in a consistent championship pace. I don’t try to rush in and do this or that. I think ABG (Authentic Brands Group) did a masterful job of making me start from the bottom. Because, of course, they could have given me a $50 million budget and said, ‘Go and sign this guy.‘”
Shaquille O’Neal is also the minority owner in Authentic Brands Group (ABG), which is the parent company of Reebok. Let’s also not forget that he personally has a net worth of $500 million. So, pulling funds from the start for the growth of Reebok was never an issue. Instead, they chose to pace themselves. Even if they pulled a check of any amount, currently Nike $92.69 billion, and Adidas $42.94 billion is operating at a higher value. Competing with money is not a game to play for the 4x NBA champion.
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He enjoyed this process of working with a handicap to use their creative juices to start the revival. “But they wanted to see us work, they wanted to see me work, so we’re working, and we’re looking to sign young players. I think the days of signing all these old players is cool, but it’s only a few old players. And we’re finding some exciting young players, people that are exciting, people that have a nice following, and people that we can grow with. Believe it or not, that’s what Reebok did with us.”
During his conversation with Sports Illustrated’s Kicks On SI, he emphasized how the brand previously took a bet on him and AI when they were young. “Reebok was very successful when I got there, but they believed in a young guy named Shaq, they believed in another young guy named Allen Iverson, and took us to the top. So, we’re going to recreate what we’ve been doing since 1992.” This strategy can be reflected with the sale of their current superstar’s sneaker.
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In another interview, Shaq revealed that Angel Reese’s new sneakers are already sold out. “The Angel Reese shoe is doing really well. We’re coming out with some new designs. Sold out.” But not injecting money also led to them facing a cash crunch and missing out on signing two NBA stars who were trending for the last couple of months.
Shaquille O’Neal was hurt after Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s $15 million news
This series was shot before this season took place. Keeping in mind the strategy of hiring young stars, Shaq turned towards a then top 3 draft prospect, Ace Bailey. In the docuseries, the 3x Finals MVP admitted to missing the opportunity to sign the young prospect. The reason? Money. “but he’s a very expensive ticket. I don’t even want to have that conversation. So, now it’s just back to the drawing board.” Imagine if they had access to $50 million, they could have signed the guard who was making the headlines, but not for the right reasons.
Bailey had a drama-filled few days after reports surfaced that he refused to work out for any team ahead of the draft. Refusal to work out led him to fall number in the draft as the Utah Jazz took a bet on the rookie. Another player that Reebok missed out on was the 2025 MVP, SGA. In the docuseries, Shaquille O’Neal had plans to sign the Thunder superstar. “If his contract’s up and Converse ain’t taking care of it, I think we should go after it,” Shaq suggested. How much would SGA cost? “High seven figures, potentially eight,” O’Neal was informed.
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Later, the dreaded news came to the Lakers legend. In March 2024, SGA re‐upped with Converse on a multi-year extension reportedly worth $15 million guaranteed. The deal also guaranteed the 2025 Finals MVP as the brand’s creative director of basketball. Therefore, Shaquille O’Neal confessed: “Not signing SGA kind of hurt me personally.” No doubt, these signings would have boosted the ranks of Reebok, but now that they have committed to a strategy, hopefully they won’t lose out on more superstars.