“Nike Story He Told, Forget That”: After Saving Reebok From Worst Fate, Shaquille O’Neal Unearths Company’s Biggest Goal

Days after Shaquille O’Neal was announced as the President of Basketball at Reebok, he made his goals clear in a recent interview. Shaq is not holding back and is ready to take the brand to the next stage. O’Neal, along with Authentic Brands Group (ABG), bought Reebok from Adidas in 2021 for 2.5 billion dollars. With his years of experience in marketing and building a business, the Big Aristotle is bringing Reebok back from the dead.

Taking his first step in doing so, Shaq has signed their first athlete to the brand under his reigns. Along with this, Reebok is also releasing retro Shaq Attaq sneakers. During a recent interview, O’Neal let everyone know what the challenge was that he was looking to overcome.

Shaquille O’Neal revealed Reebok’s ultimate goal

The 4x NBA champion was recently in Atlanta for the annual Generation Blue Experience event hosted by Coldwell Banker. During the interview with David Marine, the Los Angeles Lakers legend was quick to shut down any conversation regarding Nike.

Shaq said, “The little Nike story he told, forget that. Reebok all the way“. Shaq went on to say that Reebok was number 2 back in the late 1980s and 1990s.

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O’Neal then explained that he grew up in a military family. There, he was trained to conquer challenges. Basically, this implies that Nike is the challenge and Reebok is trying to conquer them and be the number one in the industry.

He went as far as to say, “Reebok was number two behind the other company you just mentioned“.

Back then, Reebok settled for the number 2 position and was content with that. But now that Shaq is president, they are coming for number 1.

Shaq saved Reebok in 2021

Reebok was stuck in no man’s land back in 2021. This is when Adidas was looking to sell the company.

Shaq knew the potential the brand had, as he was once signed to them. Shaq partnered with ABG and bought them from Adidas in 2021. The deal was finalized in 2022.

Reebok had all the hype back in the 1990s. However, Adidas decided to focus more on the main brand, and subsequently, Reebok lost all its hold in the basketball world.

But with the new signing of Angel Reese and the upcoming release of new products, the brand is now looking to deepen its hold again in the basketball world.

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What do you think of Shaq’s comments? Do you think they have a chance at competing with Nike? Let us know in the comments!