Former NBA legend and Hall of Fame center Shaquille O'Neal is partnering with Pepsi to initiate police reform in a number of NBA cities. Shaq himself was deputized by the Florida sheriff last year, and he was previously on record as saying he would consider a run for sheriff in Georgia.

Now, Shaq is teaming with Pepsi for the “Pepsi Stronger Together” initiative, which will put on a number of events between community leaders, youth and police in order to increase conversations around policing and civic life in general.

Shaq said he believes reform is necessary with the change of times:

“There definitely needs to be reform – reforming some of the laws, reforming some of the tactics and reforming policing itself,” O’Neal told Mark Medina of USA TODAY Sports. “Once you recognize the change and put people in place that can make those changes, it could be a whole different world. I don’t think what happened in the 1960’s is going to fly with the youngsters these days. So sometimes you have to use a little bit of police reform.”

Shaq also stressed the need for dialogue and a return to community policing:

“The first thing we need is conversations. When I was growing up, there was something called ‘neighborhood policing.’ We don’t really have that anymore,” O’Neal said. “Everybody in the neighborhood knew everybody in the neighborhood. It starts there. Then there’s respect. Then there’s communication. Even though things seem to be way out of control and spiraling downward, we can plug in some easy to-dos and things will start to get better.”

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It would seem these conversations would be just as salient and important for NBA players as members of those markets.

The players were impassioned about speaking on social justice and finding avenues to create change during the NBA restart.

For his part, Shaq seems to hope “Pepsi Stronger Together” will serve as a buffer for these different communities to come together and have an open and honest discourse about problems they see and what needs to change going forward.