Why did Shaquille O'Neal leave Reebok? The story behind Shaq walking away from the $40,000,000 deal

Shaquille O'Neal has a net worth of $400 million that he has accumulated through NBA contracts, a Hollywood career, endorsements, investments, and business ventures. However, he once rejected a $40 million deal from Reebok.

O'Neal played in Reebok shoes, most popularly 'Shaq Attaq' and 'Shaqnosis,' for a large part of his career. But, when the 7-foot-1, four-time NBA champion appeared on the "Full Send" podcast, he talked about how he was once confronted by a woman who led him to cut his ties with Reebok.

Here is what O'Neal said at the 40-minute mark:

"I had a Reebok deal, 40 for 5. And, I'm leaivng the area one day and this lady, shes ripping me into half. 'You motherf***ers! You're charging these babies all this money for these shoes.' So, I had like $2,000 in my pocket and I was like 'Ma'am, I don't make the prices, here you go.' And, she smacked the money in my hand, 'Why don't you motherf***ers make a shoe that's affordable?'

"And, I thought about it and I was like, you know what, she's right. So, that day, I cut ties with Reebok."

Here's what he told Reebok:

“I said 'keep the money… this ain’t right. I’ll still wear the shoes I wear during the season, but I’ll be looking to do my own thing.'"

After this, Shaquille O'Neal did something that nobody around the league was expecting, which was to start his own shoe brand.

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Shaquille O'Neal partnered with Walmart to start his own shoe brand, which sold over 400 million pairs

After cutting ties with Reebok, Shaquille O'Neal decided to start his own shoe brand and make them affordable.

Here is how O'Neal described the situation:

“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. 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.”

O'Neal's new venture turned into a success story and helped him drive massive sales. The unique insight that he had was that kids will buy cheap shoes if they provide quality and status. Shaquille O'Neal was able to design shoes that look great, feel great and represented one of the best players to play the game.