Allen Iverson and Shaquille O’Neal both reached insane popularity in their prime and had their own signature shoes with Reebok, which were also popular. Today, Shaq and AI are still working in different capacities for the sporting brand, serving as the President and Vice President respectively of Reebok’s renewed basketball operations. During the All-Star weekend, the two superstars appeared in a sneaker shopping episode with Complex, where they reminisced about their classic signature shoes and expressed their thoughts on having their own sneaker lines.
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The idea of athletes having their own signature shoe was popularized by Michael Jordan, who had signed a historic $2.5 million deal with Nike during his rookie year in 1984. Nike released the Air Jordan sneaker line in April 1985, which, to date, has remained one of the most iconic sneaker brands in the history of sneakers.
Growing up in the ’80s, many kids had their first exposure to the sneaker culture and the legacy of Michael Jordan, all thanks to the Air Jordan sneaker line. MJ had created a revolution with his pair of shoes, which made many future NBA stars aspire to be like him. Allen Iverson was one of those kids who always used to rock a pair of Jordans and aspired to ‘be like Mike’ as a child.
When Complex’s host Joe La Puma asked AI how he felt about kids wearing his signature shoes, you could see the glitter in the Philadelphia 76ers legend’s eyes. Iverson gleefully replied, “I was that kid. I wanted the Jordans. I grew up off that. You know the way I feel about Mike, the way I love Mike, I just feel good about seeing kids with my sneakers on cause they might feel like I felt about Mike.”
AI tries to be as much of a role model to the kids who look up to him as Michael Jordan was to him during his childhood. Despite his busy schedule, he tries his best to sign autographs for his young fans.
Shaquille O’Neal and Allen Iverson are together trying to rebuild Reebok’s basketball operations
Shaquille O’Neal and Allen Iverson were the face of Reebok’s basketball operation during the heights of their popularity in the ’90s and the early 2000s. Iverson and Shaq’s shoes quickly started setting the trend and were able to give tough competition to Nike and Adidas during that time. However, over time, the Reebok brand started to grow obscure and slowly faded away following the retirement of both Shaq and AI from the league.
The two legends have once again expressed their renewed interest in Reebok and are working to rebuild the brand’s basketball operations in this current era of the league. Shaq and Iverson have been named president and vice president of Reebok’s basketball operations respectively and will focus on recruiting players through Reebok’s involvement in grassroots organizations and community initiatives. Furthermore, through their contacts, the two NBA legends will connect, recruit, and retain those athletes under Reebok.
To understand Allen Iverson’s relationship with Reebok, it’d be interesting to look at a pact that the 76ers guard had signed with the brand that has kept him afloat through the years. Reebok had made AI put $32 million into a trust that would pay him $1 million annually. Furthermore, the clause also mentioned how Iverson could not access the money until he was 55 to prevent him from going broke. Iverson will most likely receive this money in 2030 and would perhaps be extremely cautious with his spending to not end up burning through it.
