Shaquille O’Neal is a lot of things. An all-time NBA great, a business mogul, and even too darn big for a single Ferrari. But something he just isn’t, is a great sneaker designer. In fact, his Shaq line with Walmart, while incredibly affordable, has never looked quite the best. In fact, people have been known to be roasted both offline and online for wearing his “yee yee a**” sneakers. And yet, in his most recent Instagram story, this behemoth of a man flamed someone else’s kicks in front of his 30.9 million Instagram followers. And all this happens years after the shocking details about his $40,000,000 fallout with Reebok resurfaced.
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In the past, Shaq has said that the reason he left Reebok was because of his own will. According to him, he was once confronted by a mother and her son, who demanded he lowered his sneaker prices.
However, of course, Reebok couldn’t do it, or else they wouldn’t turn over any significant profits. So the Diesel had to create his own affordable line. But while this story sounds fine and dandy, as per the book ‘Three Ring Circus’, things progressed very differently.
While that story deserves to be looked at, first we must talk about O’Neal’s stellar confidence in his own taste in sneakers.
Shaquille O’Neal roasts somebody’s sneakers
Walmart is a very successful business. And of course, Shaquille O’Neal’s partnership with them to make affordable sneakers has been a massive financial success too.
So, what’s the problem here?
Well, as you can see in the tweet above, the sneakers can look a bit… off-beat. The visual aspect of it… isn’t the greatest, or the most dominant of all time.
If we were to stop sugar-coating it, they look uglier than a face that only a mother could love. And given that fact, their success can often make someone more confused than a homeless man under house arrest.
But despite all of that, Shaq felt it appropriate to roast someone else’s taste in sneakers on his Instagram. Take a look at the post he put out below.
“Ooh, what the f**k are those?!”
Admittedly, the man Shaq is roasting in the post does deserve it. After all, it is difficult not to ask what made them wear those funny-looking monstrosities on their feet. But again, Shaq just can’t be the one to do it, given his Walmart brand.
Speaking of his brand with Walmart, let’s talk about the Reebok fiasco that was the genesis of it.
Jeff Pearlman alleges that Shaq lied, in his book ‘Three-Ring Circus’
Jeff Pearlman’s book, ‘Three-Ring Circus’ has given fans invaluable insights into the three-peat Lakers. And that includes O’Neal’s $40,000,000 deal with Reebok as well.
Shaq was signed by Reebok in 1992, and the big man was one of the happiest people in the world because of it. But as mentioned before, he soon left the brand to make more affordable sneakers…or did he?
In his book, Jeff Pearlman wrote that this story by the Big Diesel is a lie. Instead, Reebok were the ones who wanted him out, because the Lakers legend was bleeding them completely dry. You can read all the details of this fiasco right here.
