Source: Reebok / Reebok
Last year, Reebok made some big waves when they announced that Shaquille O’Neal and Allen Iverson were tapped to be the president and vice president of its basketball division, and though some might have thought this was just another source of income for Shaq Diesel, the NBA legend is taking his new role very seriously.
In an interview with the New York Times, Shaquille O’Neal spoke about his new role at Reebok and made it very clear that he plans on making Reebok as popular a brand as Nike and adidas is out on these streets. With Reebok being the place where his signature line resided during his rookie and prime years in the NBA, it’s only right that the brand would tap their biggest star to run their basketball scene for the foreseeable future; Shaq seems more than up to the task.
During a brand summit for their business partners this past March, Shaquille O’Neal appeared next to Reebok’s chief executive, Todd Krinsky, and he let everyone in attendance know that he intends on making the sports brand a powerhouse once again if it’s the last thing he does.
The New York Time reports:
“Listen, we’re getting back into basketball,” Mr. O’Neal said. “And I want everyone in here to understand there are no excuses. Everyone needs to be 100 percent in on this, because I’m 100 percent in on this.”
He then doubled down on his personal commitment: “I’m not doing this because this is a hobby. I’m doing this because we have a rightful place in basketball.”
Knowing that he and the brand have a lot riding on the line, the NBA Hall of Famer bluntly stated, “If this doesn’t work, everyone’s leaving…Everyone’s going to get gone, including me.”
While Shaquille O’Neal, Allen Iverson and Shawn Kemp had some classic Reebok sneakers back in the day, it will be interesting to see how Shaq plans on returning the OG sports brand to glory. One step in the right direction would be to retro not only those particular silhouettes (which they have already) but also bring back the S. Carter’s that Jay-Z collaborated with Reebok on and the G-Unit sneakers that 50 Cent released in the early 2000s.
We’ll have to wait and see if any of those plans pan out, but the fact that Shaq and AI are considering it shows that they’re committed to making Reebok popular again.
How do you think Shaq can make Reebok a sneaker powerhouse again? Let us know in the comments section below.