The world of the NBA is no stranger to ridiculous happenings. From humorous exchanges to controversial endeavors, the league often finds itself in the middle of unprecedented activities. Recently, Shaquille O’Neal narrated one such absurd yet hilarious partnership from his life.
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In the latest episode of The Big Podcast, the 52-year-old admitted to once engaging in a rigorous workout solely to produce sweat for commercial purposes. The eventual goal of this ludicrous collaboration was to turn the sweat into perfume, as he mentioned,
“Somebody tried to use my sweat for perfume. I had to do like 1000 hours of working out and they collected the sweat and they brought back the perfume…And it was gonna be called Elliuqahs. That’s my name spelled backward. The Essence of Elliuqahs”.
Contrary to their expectations, the results left the collaborators heavily dissatisfied. Reflecting on the smell during the recent show, ‘The Diesel’ even compared the perfume to “Dog s**t”. Consequently, they discontinued this project for the good of themselves and also the human race.
No matter how ridiculous this story sounded, the possibility of such an occasion taking place remained quite high. After all, the 4x champion had recounted this event during one of his previous visits to The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. Additionally, the 2000 MVP had disclosed even more details that time around, stating,
“Well, I had a guy come in one time…he was a scientist. He said, ‘Before we get started, I need two things from you…I need a urine sample and a sweat sample…I wanna make cologne, I wanna call it The Big DNA”’.
This captured Shaq’s renowned openness to give everything a first try. Simultaneously, it showcased his willingness to find business opportunities in unexplored sectors. Throughout his career, both of these qualities paid major dividends, leading to him accumulating generational wealth.
However, this particular collaboration was a bit too far stretched, even for a person like Shaq. Yet, the NBA icon seemed to have learned nothing from it, resulting in various such absurd partnerships later on.
A glimpse into the unusual brand partnerships of Shaquille O’Neal
Quite early into his business journey, Shaq understood that the usual methods of money-making wouldn’t work for a big man like him. As a result, he tried and tested out several unusual ways, leaving no stone unturned. But, over time, it extended beyond the realm of conventional ideas, prompting Fox Business to once even summarize his ridiculous business strategies.
For instance, in 1994, O’Neal starred in a video game called Shaq Fu. In the game, the 7ft 1″ star’s avatar was created to fight evil mummies. At the same time, it was doing side quests, such as playing charity basketball in Japan.
In 2013, another such instance took place during his collaboration with Arizona Beverages. This paved the way for the production of Soda Shaq Cream Soda in four different flavors. It ranged from vanilla, and blueberry to strawberry, and orange.
The NBA star has been at the center of several similar partnerships. On one hand, it aided in him carving a fun-loving persona for himself. On the other hand, it resulted in him accumulating a net worth of over $500 million, as per Greenlight Card.
So, no matter how unusual these partnerships continue to seem to the public, Shaq may just continue to be part of them for years to come. Thus, the NBA world should prepare themselves to hear more such ridiculous stories of his collaborations in the future.
