“Sold Over 200 Million Pairs of Affordable Shoes”: Shaquille O’Neal Takes a Shot at Naysayers For Doubting $12 Sneakers

Shaquille O’Neal has been one of the most recognizable faces in the NBA world, for more than a couple of decades. At the same time, he is one of the biggest philanthropists that basketball has given to society. Shaq, as a response to the sky-high prices of most basketball shoes, created his own sneaker brand, which attempts to provide people with affordable sneaker options.

While O’Neal had announced back in 2016 that he would be selling the shoes in Walmart, he was constantly trolled due to the uniqueness of the idea. The move was a result of O’Neal having decided years ago that he would give basketball fans the option of buying affordable sneakers.

With the pairs selling for as little as 12$, O’Neal recently revealed, as per ‘What are NBA celebs upto’, that he has “sold over 200 million pairs of affordable shoes” over the years, mostly to struggling families from low-income households.

Proclaimed to be a man of the people, the post was initially shared on Instagram by ‘specialneedshomeschooling’. 

Shaquille O’Neal recalls his Walmart sneaker’s success pic.twitter.com/Hn0bnJns6I

— What are NBA Celebs Upto? (@NBACelebsUpdate) November 20, 2023

However, it eventually made its way to Shaq’s own Instagram story, understandably as a response to his naysayers.

 

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A post shared by Penny Rogers (@specialneedshomeschooling)

One of the most wholesome personalities to have come out from the NBA, Shaq is not merely an NBA personality. He has, a long time ago, become a bonafide philanthropist and has been involved in a plethora of initiatives aimed at helping those in need. This appears to be just one of them.

Shaquille O’Neal changed his approach towards sneakers after this event

Shaquille O’Neal’s journey includes some truly heartwarming stories, including his forsaking of a $40 million, 5-year Reebok deal back in 1998. Shaq revealed that this was in response to an old lady, who had scolded him and called him a “motherf***er” for making shoes with Reebok that were too expensive.

‘Lady I don’t make the prices. Here you go, and she smacked the money out of my hand, ‘Why don’t you motherf–kers make a shoe that’s affordable?” Shaq said, claiming that he had learned his lesson.

‘I was like, ‘You know what, she’s right.’ So that day, I cut ties with Reebok and started my own brand,” he recalled. “I said keep the money… this ain’t right. I’ll still wear the shoes I wear during the season, but I’ll be looking to do my own thing. So, I started the Shaq brand,” he claimed. 

Hence, while O’Neal, like almost all major NBA stars, could have made millions from a big sneaker deal, all it took was one lady’s anger to convince him otherwise.

Shaq realized that part of his job was to increase access to basketball for young children, and one of the most direct ways of doing this was by bringing down sneaker prices. While this might not be the craziest Shaq story related to Walmart, it might be the most wholesome one, for sure.