Shaquille O’Neal Reveals How He Tanked His Meeting With Nike to Sign With Reebok

Published 09/11/2021, 9:30 AM EDT

Four-time NBA champion Shaquille O’Neal is regarded as one of the best centers of the game. He was instrumental in the Lakers’ three-peat in the early 2000s and won the Finals MVP in those three seasons. Orlando Magic drafted him in 1992 and with several big brands like Nike chasing him, he decided to sign with Reebok.

Nike and Reebok were the favorites to sign the talented Shaq during the early 90s. However, Reebok came up on top as Shaq was more impressed with what Reebok was offering. But before deciding anything, Shaq had planned to meet with Nike and listen to their offer.

However, there’s a funny incident, that happened during Shaq’s meeting with Nike. Shaq has explained how he bombed the Nike office and then signed with Reebok.

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Shaquille O’Neal opens up on how he bombed Nike’s office and signed with Reebok instead

The 2000 NBA MVP recently appeared on ABC Network’s ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!’. During the late-night show, Jimmy Kimmel asked Shaq why he signed with Reebok instead of Nike. To this, Shaq said that Reebok offered him a signature shoe, and they agreed to his ideas.

“Nike, they had like four or five people and it was always my dream to have a signature shoe. So when I went to Reebok, they was going to give me a signature shoe. Because I already had my Shaq emblem. I already had all the commercials. I had everything done in my head on how I wanted to go. So when I went to Reebok, they said they were going to do it,” Shaq said on Jimmy Kimmel Live.

Shaq also explained a funny incident when he bombed into the Nike meeting dressed in Reebok.

“But we promised Nike that we would listen to them. So I wore my Reebok jacket to the Nike meeting. So I came back, and I signed with Reebok.”

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Former Lakers star Shaquille O’Neal’s first signature shoes with Reebok was the ‘Shaq Attaq’, which came out in 1992. Reebok dropped Shaq’s signature shoe every year except and in 1998, Shaq’s last line of signature shoes came out with Reebok. After this, Shaq started his own line of shoes. Shaq and Walmart signed a deal to start their own line of low-priced shows.

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In 2016, Shaq shared a post on his social media, stating that his Shaq brand has sold more than 12 million pairs of shoes. Recently Shaq and Authentic Brands Group agreed to buy Reebok in a billion-dollar deal. During his appearance at Jimmy Kimmel Live, he also revealed that he and his partners own Reebok and are planning on ‘bringing it back to prosperity’.

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Abhishek is an NBA writer at EssentiallySports with over two years of journalistic experience with Chase Your Sport and Dribl. A Football Management graduate, he has previously interned in the Indian Super League, I-League and the AFC Champions League. In addition to being a Michael Jordan fan, Abhishek is an ardent Steph Curry and Warriors guy, and believes they have a few more championships in store before the former retires.

Shaquille O’Neal Reveals How He Tanked His Meeting With Nike to Sign With Reebok

Shaquille O’Neal opens up on how he bombed Nike’s office and signed with Reebok instead

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