Shaquille O’Neal, an NBA Hall of Famer, used to wear a different pair of sneakers every game and give them away to fans in the stadium.
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Shaquille O’Neal is a Hall of Famer who played in the NBA for 19 seasons and won four championships. Shaq had several endorsement deals, including shoe deals. In the early 1990s, he signed a shoe contract with Reebok and went on to design a shoe for kids called the Dunkman that families could afford.
In many NBA games, O’Neal wore his signature shoe, which he designed. The shoes in question were created for families who could not afford the market’s high prices.
On this day in 1998, #Reebok officially announced that @SHAQ and the brand had mutually agreed to end their partnership after 6 years and multiple signature shoe franchises. What’s your favorite Reebok x Shaq shoe? pic.twitter.com/XFZY9VuOLI
— Rares (@raresapp) June 30, 2021
Instead, the Shaq Dunkman shoe was designed to retail for $39.99 or less at Payless Shoe store. Shaq wore these shoes as a Laker and continued to do so throughout his NBA career.
Shaquille O’Neal’s shoes continued to sell and were eventually purchased by Walmart and other retailers.
Shaq gave up millions of dollars to avoid signing with a shoe company after his contract with Reebok expired, and he experimented with various shoe designs that he later wore in the NBA.
Shaquille O’Neal once wore different pairs of shoes every game in his rookie year
Basketball shoes were a must-have item for kids, basketball players, and even celebrities in the 1980s and 1990s.
Basketball shoes cost $100 and up for the more popular shoes on the market, as seen by the league’s superstar basketball players and endorsed by sneaker companies in a billion-dollar industry.
Shaquille O’Neal signed a 5-year, $15 million contract with Reebok during his rookie year in 1992. O’Neal developed his own shoe line, the Shaq Reebok attack line. Shaq Attack 1–4 shoes were released in the 1990s.
Shaq used to wear a different pair of shoes in every NBA game during his rookie year. O’Neal admits that he wore different pairs simply because he could. He would also remove his shoes and give them to fans who had come to support him.
O’Neal recognized a market opportunity in the sneakers industry and seized it with both hands.
The NBA Hall of Famer has sold more than 120 million units of his brand, expanding the small piece of the billion-dollar industry he has carved out for himself.
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