We now know that Reebok’s newest basketball shoe was a family affair. Angel Reese debuted the Reebok Engine A, the first launch since Shaquille O’Neal took over the basketball division, at one of the biggest games of her rookie career. Shaq showed up at the Wintrust Arena to watch Reese play for the first time since she went pro. He referred to her as his ‘daughter’ who he was excited to watch play against Caitlin Clark. While Shaq’s in Chicago, Reese’s honorary bro revealed a special contribution to her big game.

Shaquille O’Neal had invited his son, Shareef, to join him at Reebok before it was announced the Dunkman was returning as the boss of the basketball team. Shareef revealed on the Then They Rose podcast that his dad wanted him involved in many aspects, including sneaker design.

So when Reese’s new Reebok designs became the talk of tonight’s game vs Indiana Fever, Shareef shared the news with a little additional detail. “Glad to have been apart of this [sic],” he wrote. Pardon his typo but he means that he was a part of the design of the Reebok Engine A.

It’s no coincidence that she debuted these kicks tonight. Reese and Caitlin Clark’s final matchup of the regular season is the most hyped game yet. The Chicago Sky made it special by hosting ‘Barbie Night’ in honor of their Chi-Town Barbie.

Shaq has watched Reese play courtside at LSU games many times. But he’s yet to attend a WNBA game since his prodigy went pro. He’s at this game partly as the Reebok exec launching the new show. But before the game, he made it a point to say, “Angel is like a daughter to me.” It’s no surprise he got his son involved in this campaign too.

Shareef revives old-school Reebok design

On the Then They Rose podcast last week, Shareef revealed he was going to attempt to revive his hoops career by going to Australia. But Shaquille O’Neal stopped him and told him that he was reviving Reebok and he wanted Shareef’s help for it. “He’s like, ‘Can you do me a favor this year? Can you help me rebrand Reebok? I’ll let you help redesign the shoes… redesign the clothes and help sign players. I really need your help.” 

The 24-year-old had been dropping some cryptic hints on social media about what he was up to. He reshared design sketches from the Reebok Basketball page leading up to the game. Disclosing he was part of the new campaign was a big revelation. This marks Shareef and Shaq’s first father-son collaboration at Reebok.

The Reebok Engine A is the brand’s first performance basketball sneaker since the early 2010s. In that duration, Shaq had pushed Authentic Brands Group to acquire Reebok from Adidas in 2021. Reminiscent of the Shaq Attaq era, the design reimagines the Mobius Line which was the signature of the ’90s design.

The shoe will drop officially in Spring 2025. Until then, Shaq and his kids are getting it the hype it deserves.