Shaq once rejected $40m Reebok deal before selling over 400 million shoes at Walmart

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Dinesh

Shaq (Shaquille O’Neal) is one of the greatest basketball players ever and had a deal with Walmart as he snubbed giants Reebok 

Shaquille O’Neal (Shaq) has never shied away from speaking about his tough upbringing. He has brought up his family problems previously and how he had to work hard to achieve everything that he did in the NBA.

biggest feet in NBA
Shaquille O’Neal attends an event. (Image: Scott Mlyn | CNBC)

The former Orlando Magic, LA Lakers and Miami Heat star has won 4 NBA Championships in his career. He also is a 15-time NBA All-Star and a 3-time NBA Finals MVP.

However, he hasn’t let all of this success get to his head. Shaq has invested in several businesses and has an estimated net worth of $400m.

It may seem like Shaq would have always tried to get the big deals working with him, he revealed on the Full Send Podcast a little while back that he rejected a $40m deal with giants Reebok.

Cost of shoes leads to Shaq cutting ties with Reebok 

Shaq, while speaking on the podcast, claimed that an old lady shouted at him for the price of the Reebok shoes. She claimed that younger fans could not afford it all.

Shaq added that he “cut ties” with Reebok on that day and he lost out on a $40m deal (h/t Footwearnews). He also allowed Reebok to keep the money and revealed that a deal with Walmart to make affordable shoes was done:

“So, I started the Shaq brand. I went to my favorite store, Walmart, and we did a deal. I was in all stores and my price point for the shoes was $29-$19 and since then we sold over 400 million pairs.” He added that he brought on designers from Reebok to join him in the new Walmart venture. “It’s not kids that don’t want to wear $20 shoes, they don’t want to wear shoes that look like they cost $20.”

Shaquille O'Neal
ARLINGTON, TX – FEBRUARY 14: NBA player Shaquille O’Neal in the audience during the NBA All-Star Game held at Cowboys Stadium on February 14, 2010 in Arlington, Texas. (Photo by Jason Merritt/Getty Images)

The shoes started selling well and Shaq revealed in 2016 that almost 120m pairs of affordable shoes were sold. 

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