Shaquille O’Neal and Allen Iverson are two of the most iconic figures in Reebok basketball history. Now, the two will team up as Shaq has been named the President of the Basketball division for Reebok and AI has been named Vice-President for the same according to Boardroom. This comes over a year after Authentic Brands Group acquired Reebok for $2.46 billion in 2022. O’Neal is the second largest shareholder in ABG and so technically partially owns Reebok; quite the full circle moment for him.
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When Shaq and Reebok teamed up, they did so right after the former was drafted in 1992 where they released their ‘Shaq Attaq’ lineup of sneakers. Of course, the infamous story of Shaq getting ‘attacked’ by a mother for his shoes being too expensive for her children eventually led to O’Neal making his line of affordable ‘Dunkman’ shoes that average out at around $30. Fast-forward to present day and Shaq looks to revitalize Reebok basketball in the 2020s.
Shaquille O’Neal has been named President of the Reebok basketball division
Shaq couldn’t wait to let everybody know that his and Iverson’s partnership with Reebok has ascended to another level. The 51 year old took to his Instagram story to showcase the two new signings, feeling proud of the accomplishment that he achieved.
“A big part of my role will be leveraging my network to build bridges, connect the brand with players, and help those players develop through their partnership with Reebok,” said Shaq to Boardroom on his role with this new position of his.
The President and CMO of ABG, Nick Woodhouse, would go on to showcase his excitement for this new partnership as he would go on to claim Shaq is to Reebok what Michael Jordan is to Nike. The popularity of the ‘Shaq Attaq’ and ‘Shaqnosis’ shoes would prove this to be the case.
Allen Iverson is another athlete who helped propel Reebok to the front lines of basketball in the 2000s. He’s perhaps the most beloved NBA legend there is and having him connect with players to try to bring them on would be a massive boost. Not to mention that AI and Reebok are tied to the hip due to the latter needing to pay him $35,000,000 at the age of 55.
Which athletes are currently signed to/slash play in Reebok?
Reebok basketball is expected to have a fully revitalized launch in 2025. This however, doesn’t mean that players here and there don’t rock Reebok basketball shoes. Players such as Montrezl Harrel, Josh Richardson, and Dennis Smith Jr have all worn Reebok shoes in the past.
Surprisingly, more so than Shaq’s shoes, it’s Allen Iverson’s signature line that gets the most love. The Reebok Answer 5 is one that has been worn quite regularly with Robert Williams III grabbing 17 rebounds in it once and DSJ dishing out 11 dimes in the same shoe.
It’s unclear which athletes ‘Diesel’ and ‘The Answer’ will target to join their line of signature athletes. However, with the amount of pull they have, it wouldn’t be surprising if they build a star-studded lineup in no time.
