Shaquille O’Neal Is Bringing His Son Shareef Into The Fold At Shaq Brand — ‘A Lot Of These Are His Designs’ – AfroTech
It’s a family affair over at the Shaq Brand.
Walking Away From Reebok
As AFROTECH™ previously told you, Shaquille O’Neal had a multi-million-dollar shoe deal on the table from Reebok. However, he walked away from the deal in 1998 to launch an affordable shoe line in partnership with Walmart. This was prompted after a mother told him that his younger fans couldn’t afford his shoes being sold by Reebok.
O’Neal recounts on “The Big Podcast” that he went to his mom in hopes she would counter what the woman had said. However, his mother not only agreed but she also reminded him about his hometown of Newark, NJ.
“She’s like, ‘Remember, you ain’t never had no shoes that cost more than $40.’ So, I said to myself, ‘All right, I’m gonna start my own line.’ I called Reebok and said, ‘Hey, we’re not going to renew.’ I had like $50 million on the table. I had no idea what I was going to do. So, I was thinking about where do my people go. Walmart. Walmart is the best distribution in the world. Started off with Walmart and it just took off,” he said on the podcast.
Shaq Brand
The Shaq Brand has now sold 470 million pairs of shoes, O’Neal says on his podcast. What’s more, his success is also being shared alongside his son Shareef, who has played a key role in some of the brand’s newer shoe styles.
“My son is taking over now… my sh-t was kinda old,” O’Neal said.
Pointing at the shoes in the background, he added, “A lot of these are his designs.”
Guest co-host actor Bill Bellamy commented:
“Shareef is doing a fantastic job because I just think that, creatively, what he is bringing to the brand — it’s going to touch a whole new demographic.”
While O’Neal is faring well with the Shaq Brand, he did return to Reebok in a new capacity. As AFROTECH™ previously told you, he joined the company as its president of basketball in 2023. Reebok’s sales reached $1.6 billion in 2020, and in 2024, they rose to $5 billion.
