If you were up and watching TV early this week, on Wednesday, July 17, you had the fun of seeing our man Shaq on ABC’s ““Good Morning America” program. Talk about looking sharp! O’Neal showed off some slick new Reeboks as part of a black business suit look.
As you’ve read here on the ShaqFu Radio blog, part of Shaq’s business dealings is with Reebok sports apparel company. Earlier this year, O’Neal was hired as the company’s “President of Basketball.” Cool job title, BTW. Shaq’s first new hire was to bring in another hoops superstar, Alan Iverson, as his Vice President.
Shaq has talked about his love for Reebok over the years. When he was hired, he told reporters, “What always stood out to me about Reebok is their belief in me since day one. They signed me as a rookie – gave me the biggest endorsement deal they had ever given to anyone at the time; gave me the first signature shoe they’d ever given to an athlete before. I can’t tell you what that feeling was like to just have this brand be all in on me before I had even stepped on the pro court. I’ll never forget it.”
Now Shaq is working to get Reebok back to its former glory as one of the big names in sports apparel, especially basketball shoes. How’s that going? Well, you saw it live and on TV with the GMA appearance.
The BIG Podcast with SHAQ
The official reason for the morning show TV appearance was Shaq’s upcoming ABC game show, called “Lucky 13.” That show, with co-host Gina Rodriguez, will hit the air this week. In a nutshell, contestants answer 13 true or false questions. Then, they must decide how many they think they got right. If they pick the option that matches with their correct answers, they win anywhere from $5,000 all the way up to a million dollars. Pretty sweet!
So anyway, back to the GMA appearance. Along with the full-on black business suit, Shaq wore a new pair of Reebok’s Nano X3 Training shoes. The design features contrasting black woven textile uppers — made of trademarked Flexweave material — with a beige rubber outsole. Described as “a training shoe you can actually run in,” the sneakers also include Reebok’s Lift and Run Chassis system and Floatride Energy Foam.
That’s the technical specs. Just taking a quick look at the pics, we’ve got to say this: Where do we get these sharp new kicks? The shoes were designed with a zig-zagging line delineating the sole from the upper portion; the shoes also featured black laces. With a sleek two-toned neutral color scheme, it made for a very nice look.
As we’ve talked about in other posts, Shaq has a close relationship with the footwear industry. The four-time NBA Finals champion first signed a deal with Reebok in 1992, the same year he joined the Orlando Magic as the first pick of the NBA draft. His partnership with Reebok has included several versions of the basketball shoe known as Shaq Attack.
In case you were wondering, at seven feet one inch tall, Shaq famously wears size 22 shoes. Technically, he says he’s really “only” a size 20, but he likes the room and comfort of the size 22 versions.