“We want to put together a damn near-perfect roster of Reebok players than can represent Reebok in all areas of basketball.” The goal for Shaquille O’Neal is to get representation in the G League, college basketball, WNBA, and the NBA. The plan seems easy on paper, and why would anybody give up the chance to sign for Reebok with Shaq at the helm? Well, in the world of business, nothing is ever easy, and the Lakers legend had to come to terms with that realization, but it wasn’t easy.
On Netflix’s Power Moves with Shaquille O’Neal, the President of Reebok basketball wanted to know about the young prodigies who could sign with the brand. For that, Colin Bell, the athlete marketing manager, was on scouting duty during the recent Iverson Classic. He revealed that Ace Bailey did not attend the tournament since he goes to an Adidas-sponsored school. A bummer for President Shaq to hear this. But there was more bad news from Bell.
“Whomever’s calling and saying, ‘Hey, like, we don’t want you to be in the Reebok League. You don’t need to be associated with that.’” Bell further elaborated, “It’s very hard to sign players who have school deals, brand deals made between athletic brands and schools are big business. Big brands like Nike and Adidas pay schools hundreds of millions of dollars to sponsor them. The brand provides apparel and equipment to the school, which gives them a ton of exposure.”
The market cap of two major rivals, Nike, with $92.69 billion, and Adidas $42.94 billion. The docuseries then once again cuts to a conversation with Bell and Shaquille O’Neal, where the former added, “Then we just got to be cool with the cards that were dealt at this point.” This led to the Lakers legend admitting the current competition is way more intense than before.
“So the whole process that we never had to deal with in the 80s and the 90s, a lot of competition. And we’re not Nike, so it really puts pressure on the team to think outside the box.”
Before Shaquille O’Neal’s stressful message, even the Reebok CEO shared a troubling sign for the brand’s growth
The documentary also revealed that Nike leads with 68 in the College apparel partnership. Followed by Adidas at 37, Under Armour at 17, and New Balance at 1. Even the Reebok CEO shared that brands that often sign these huge deals have the say in prohibiting players from participating in another competitor’s camp. This alludes to Ace Bailey not participating in the Iverson Classic.
May 26, 2024; Dallas, Texas, USA; Shaquille O’Neal before the game between the Dallas Mavericks and the Minnesota Timberwolves in game three of the western conference finals for the 2024 NBA playoffs at American Airlines Center. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-Imagn Images
“It’s a very, very competitive space for Reebok basketball,” said Todd Krinsky. “Because we don’t have the resources to compete at the next level.” That competition is why Reebok couldn’t get the deal of signing Bailey over the line. Shaquille O’Neal, in one episode, spoke about the missed opportunity to sign Ace Bailey.
“Had the opportunity to sign Ace Bailey, but he’s a very expensive ticket. I don’t even want to have that conversation. So, now it’s just back to the drawing board.” Signing players to the brand is easy, but a tedious process. Collaborating with a college program gives Reebok a larger pool of athletes to aim at. Right now, Nike and Adidas are way ahead in that aspect. It will be interesting to see how the Shaq-led brand responds.
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