Shaquille O’Neal had heralded an excellent era for Reebok after signing with them for his rookie shoe deal. Reebok had hit the jackpot by signing Shaq for a $40,000,000 shoe deal, which lasted until Shaq left the deal in 1999. The story behind Shaq leaving Reebok, as shared by the Big Aristotle, is considered widely contradictory. When Shaq was with Reebok, the company started its own shoe line, which included the sneakers as Shaq Attaq and Shaqnosis. Twenty-four years after parting ways from the deal, Shaq revealed the real inspiration behind Shaqnosis’ design. Although Shaq had cut ties with Reebok back then, he would later buy a majority share of its parent group in 2021.
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Even after retiring from basketball, Shaquille O’Neal remains a popular figure, commanding respect and a dedicated following. He has gained a new fan base among the current generation through his role as a TV show analyst. Leveraging his celebrity status, Shaq is actively working to revive Reebok’s popularity, putting the brand on par with Nike and Adidas.
Shaquille O’Neal revealed his real inspiration behind finding the design concept for Reebok Shaqnosis
In 1995, right after Shaq competed in his first Finals appearance for the Orlando Magic, Reebok brought in a new series of shoes for Shaquille O’Neal. Called the ‘Shaqnosis,’ the shoe design featured unique concentric circles zeroing in on the Reebok logo at the center of the shoe. The image tried to portray this shoe quite heavily leans towards the visual stimulation fans enjoy from Shaq’s 22-size feet. The shoe, combined with Shaq’s physical prowess in basketball, was supposed to provide a ‘hypnotic’ effect when worn on the court. Shaq reposted a reel on his Instagram story that decoded his inspiration for such a unique design.
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In a reel posted by Reebok, Shaquille O’Neal revealed the real inspiration for the design concept for the Shaqnosis. Interestingly, Shaq found this idea on television after a sound nap at home. Intriguing the viewers, Shaq said:
“One time I was sleeping in the house, and I woke up, and I saw on TV [moving his index finger round to denote circular loops], this. It just kept going, kept going, until it reached the twilight zone. What happened was, I watched this for so long, I got tired. The loop got me on a hypnotic state. I was like, ‘Why shouldn’t we do this on a shoe?’ That’s how Shaqnosis came to being.”
Shaqnosis was part of Reebok’s Mobius collections, which consisted of some of the most aggressively designed shoe models with high-contrast black and white colorways. The Shaqnosis, alongside the Kamikaze II, were two of the most popular models from this collection. Even after 29 years, people still consider the Mobius collection as one of the most classic Reebok sneaker series.
O’Neal lied about the heartwarming story behind leaving a $15,000,000 Reebok deal
It seems like Shaquille O’Neal needed to find a different reason to justify his $40,000,000 breakup with Reebok. In a 2021 episode, Shaq told in the Full-Send podcast that the Big Aristotle left Reebok after a woman had approached him and called him out for endorsing overpriced sneakers.
Additionally, contradicting the above claim, Jeff Pearlman, in his book, wrote how the deal ended on a mutual agreement between Shaq and Reebok. Both parties failed to reach a consensus for a $15,000,000 endorsement renewal for five years. Furthermore, a 7’1″ 325 lbs Shaq’s shoe line was not relatable to the audience. However, it’s quite hard to believe this story, given that it does not match Shaq’s version in the slightest bit.
