- Toilet paper brand Charmin takes hilarious shot at Patrick Beverley ahead of Lakers-Bulls matchup
- Report: Lakers upgrade LeBron James’ status for Sunday’s matchup vs. Bulls
- Former NBA player says Austin Reaves is overhyped because he’s ‘white’ and the Lakers are ‘trash’
- Austin Reaves’ semi-worrisome comments about his future with Lakers
- Austin Reaves says he had to buy LeBron James Xbox controller as one of his rookie duties on Lakers
- Tristan Thompson says he surprised LeBron James during Lakers workout: ‘I haven’t seen this since Cleveland’
- Draymond Green says the Lakers are a ‘serious threat’ in the Western Conference
- Report: Lakers downgrade D’Angelo Russell’s status for Friday’s matchup vs. Thunder
- Kendrick Perkins rips ‘borderline senior citizen’ Chris Paul for letting Austin Reaves drop 25 points on him
- Anthony Davis issues confident statement on Lakers playoff hopes: ‘You put anybody against us, I like our chances’
Shaquille O’Neal shares why he left lucrative deal with Reebok to make affordable shoes with Walmart
- Updated: August 27, 2021
Jefferson Graham via Imagn Content Services
During a podcast appearance, Los Angeles Lakers legend Shaquille O’Neal recently told the story of why he left a massive sneaker deal with Reebok to instead produce millions of affordable shoes with Walmart.
He explained that his decision to leave Reebok, who was paying him $40 million over five years, was sparked when a fan angrily complained to him about how his shoes weren’t affordable for kids.
O’Neal mentioned that he tried to give the woman the $2,000 he had in his pockets at the time. She slapped the money out of his hands and continued going at him.
“That day, I cut ties with Reebok, started my own brand,” O’Neal said. “I said, ‘Keep the money. This ain’t right. … I’ll still wear the shoes that I wear during the season, but I’ll be looking to do my own thing. … The money you owe me, keep it.’ So, I started the Shaq brand, and I went to my favorite store, Walmart, and we did a deal. I was in all stores and my price point for the shoes were $29-$19, and since then we sold over 400 million pairs. It’s not that kids don’t want to wear $20 shoes. They don’t want to wear shoes that look like they cost $20.”
Over the years, it has become extremely clear that O’Neal is a very generous person. He certainly has a big personality, but he is seemingly always willing to put others before himself.
O’Neal finished his NBA career with a long list of accolades. A 15-time All-Star, O’Neal won two scoring titles, an MVP award and four NBA titles. Today, he’s a Hall of Famer.
He finished his playing days with averages of 23.7 points, 10.9 rebounds and 2.5 assists per game. He spent almost two full decades in the league, and a good chunk of that time was spent with the Lakers.
These days, O’Neal is involved in sports media. Many folks think of him as one of the most entertaining basketball analysts out there.
Related Posts
About Jason Simpson
