Shaquille O’Neal had one favor to ask his son Shareef after becoming Reebok’s president of basketball.
Shaq’s Return To Reebok
As AFROTECH™ previously reported, Shaquille’s history with the athletic footwear and clothing brand began in 1992, the year he was also drafted to the NBA. He released shoes such as the Shaq Attaq and Shaqnosis, but in 1998 he chose to walk away from the $40 million deal to start his own brand with Walmart so he could offer more affordable shoes for kids.
In October 2023, he returned to Reebok sporting a new hat as its president of basketball. He is now responsible for the company’s basketball category strategy and nurturing partnerships with athletes and organizations.
Shaquille quickly got to work, playing a role in Angel Reese opting to sign a name, image, and likeness (NIL) deal with the company, while she was attending LSU. Even after being drafted to the WNBA by the Chicago Sky, Reese’s relationship with the brand has only progressed as she now has her own Reebok collection.
“It’s all about product, players and the community and having the confidence to do things our own way,” Shaquille said about his appointment as Reebok’s president of basketball, per Footwear News. “We need to capitalize on Reebok’s heritage and product expertise in the sport for today’s youth, but also focus on getting involved in the community from a grassroots level. We’re going to bring in a new generation of players who have strong authenticity and passion, or what I like to refer to as the ‘it’ factor, who can put their own mark on this brand and make it relevant to a whole new generation.”
Tapping His Son
Shaquille did not take on the task of restructuring Reebok’s basketball division alone. He tapped his son Shareef, an NBA G League Ignite player, to help with the company’s designs and in signing players.
At the time, Shareef was considering playing professionally in Australia but says he felt he owed it to Shaquille to remain in the United States after the sacrifices his father made for the family.
On the podcast “Then They Rose,” Shareef recalled being asked by Shaquille, “‘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, help sign players.’ He’s like ‘I really really need your help.’”
Shareef continued, “Basically, my job for Reebok right now is bringing in the culture, connecting the culture to Reebok. So, I took a year from playing professionally. I still work all the time, but seeing what all the things my dad has done for me, I wasn’t going to go to Australia to be 16 hours away from my family when they were just holding me down from the past however many years.”
Shareef adds, so far, all is fairing well at Reebok and he believes the company is poised to be more competitive in the market by 2025.
“We’re doing a really good job right now, and I say by the time 2025 starts, Reebok will be up there with the rest of these brands, and I’m glad I can contribute with that, and yeah basically I’m just the guy in there who’s telling them oh this is the trends now, these are the brands that we should try to go for, these are the players we should go for, so I’m glad that he trusted me,” he explained.
