Shaquille O'Neal is definitely one of the most savage people you'll ever come across in your life. A clear testament to this fact is how Shaq sabotaged his own meeting with Nike just to be able to sign with Reebok instead.
This was early in Shaq's legendary career. He was at a crossroads as he thought long and hard about whether he would sign with Nike or Reebok. Well, as it turns out, it wasn't really a tough decision for the four-time NBA champ. He already made up his mind and he made sure he wasn't going to sign with Nike:
“Nike, they had like four or five people and it was always my dream to have a signature shoe. So when I went to Reebok, they was going to give me a signature shoe. Because I already had my Shaq emblem. I already had all the commercials. I had everything done in my head on how I wanted to go. So when I went to Reebok, they said they were going to do it,” Shaq said (h/t Nico Martinez of Fadeaway World).
“But we promised Nike that we would listen to them. So I wore my Reebok jacket to the Nike meeting. So I came back, and I signed with Reebok.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dfCuZ6Ph_ao
Just imagine how the Nike executives in the meeting would have reacted as soon as they saw Shaq in a Reebok jacket. They probably had a whole pitch prepared for him only for them to realize quickly that this meeting was nothing more than a waste of time. I wonder how long that sit-down went for.
For what it's worth, Shaq did end up cutting ties with Reebok a few years after signing with them. He ended up creating his own brand as he looked to bring more affordable shoes to the market. He recently went full circle by buying into Reebok, where he is now a part-owner of the entire brand. Talk about a massive turnaround, right?
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