“Shaquille O’Neal not only who*es himself out to a million sponsors but acts like a damn fool”: When Dennis Rodman called out The Diesel for his deals with brands like Pepsi

Dennis Rodman made many bad choices in his life, choosing to willfully decline to endorse the brands like Pepsi but Shaquille O’Neal did not.

Not only did Dennis Rodman pull the media attention at the time when the NBA was full of superstars and future best players of all time, but he also did so without much effort. People would disagree with that but just by being himself, the Bad Boys Pistons forward was one of the most popular ballers in the league.

But despite being one of the best enforcers of the game and an important player for all his teams, he wasn’t paid much in salary throughout his career as compared to other future Hall of Famers and top-75 players of all time.

Also read: “Dennis Rodman gave Detroit Pistons unique flexibility”: How Adrian Dantley began sulking when The Worm supplanted his starting role on The Bad Boy Pistons

Commercials could’ve been one big source of income for him, but being the straight arrow he was (no pun intended), his morals and ideologies didn’t allow him to do what the likes of Shaquille O’Neal did without much thought.

Athletes these days go out their far too much to criticize someone, especially if any of their products is about to launch in the market. But Dennis The Menace was way ahead of his time during his NBA career, he penned down his thoughts while he was still playing and did so without any filters.

 

When Dennis Rodman blasted Shaquille O’Neal for endorsing products like Pepsi

The Big Aristotle is one of the richest athletes on the planet, having his stakes in the companies like Google, Papa John’s, and even the NBA franchise Sacramento Kings. But before his investments in several giant companies, he earned a lot of money through endorsements.

However, Rodman believed Shaq was too blind for lying in front of the whole world that he uses the product he endorses just for earning money. He wrote in-depth about it in his book Walk On The Wild Side, which came out this month, 25 years ago.

“Some people wonder why companies would want someone as controversial as I am to pitch their products. I’ll tell you why, and everyone knows it. Consumers aren’t total idiots. They can see right through someone like Shaquille O’Neal, who not only who*es himself out to a million sponsors but acts like a damn fool. You’ll see Shaq being interviewed on live TV, and he’ll say something like he just wants to be young, have fun, and drink Pepsi. Uh, yeah. No one could possibly believe that’s what he really feels; it’s such an obvious load of crap. He might as well dress up like a Pepsi can when he plays. No one should want to sell a product that bad. IT’S PATHETIC.”

Also read: “The people who build the same statue Chuck”: Shaquille O’Neal’s hilarious response to Charles Barkley questioning his comparisons to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

Whatever bad Rodman saw in O’Neal’s selection of endorsements, the Diesel has made a net worth in surplus of $400 Million. While Dennis’ mere $500,000 worth, even after earning $43 million from the NBA and a few more million in the WWE, clearly shows us who chose wisely.