Reebok, one of the nation’s most recognizable sneaker brands, is experiencing a cultural resurgence thanks to NBA veteran Shaquille O’Neal, according to Yahoo Finance. O’Neal is the company’s first-ever president of Reebok Basketball. In addition to his role, O’Neal is the second-largest individual shareholder in Reebok’s parent company, Authentic Brands Group.
Authentic Brands Group finalized its $2.5 billion acquisition of Reebok from Adidas in March 2022. Reebok is one of many long-standing American brands in its portfolio, such as Brooks Brothers, Champion, GUESS, Juicy Couture, and Quick Silver.
O’Neal was named president in 2023. Later that year, the company signed then-LSU women’s basketball star Angel Reese to Reebok’s first NIL deal. Reese’s signing led “a shift toward younger, culturally relevant athletes to compete with Nike and Jordan Brand.”
O’Neal told Yahoo Finance the resurgence of Reebok is “fun.”
“We do a wonderful job of content,” Shaq said. “We’re very careful of the players we select. One of our first selections was Angel Reese … Her shoe has just been sold out.”
O’Neal, who is no stranger to corporate pitching, expressed that he enjoys reintroducing the brand to a younger audience:
“I take it personal. I’ll go to a kid [and they’ll say] ‘oh, I never heard of Reebok. Well you know who Allen Iverson is? ‘oh the A.I.’s’ those are Reeboks, …try to reintroduce Reebok to the youth…”
Jamie Salter, the CEO of Authentic Brands, credits O’Neal’s sureness in revitalizing Reebok: “[Reebok] got out of sport, and Shaq’s like ‘Jamie, we’re going to get into this, and we’re going right back into sport.”
After an internal scan of the other companies in the Authentic Brands portfolio, Salter said, “60 percent of the business is classics, it’s fashion.”
O’Neal was unswayed, telling Salter, “You look after that piece of the puzzle, I’ll look after the sports side.”
Salters admits O’Neal’s assessment was correct.
“Sure enough, we’re back in basketball, we’re back in soccer, we’re back in football…so we’re getting back to the roots of where Reebok started,” Salter added.
According to Yahoo, O’Neal has been the public face of the “Return of the Classics” campaign, reproducing classic“silhouettes” like the Shaq Attack and Iverson’s signature shoe, the Question.
“We just do things that are very, very strategic,” O’Neal added. “We’ve doubled in business and we plan on continuing to grow.”
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