NBA icon Shaquille O’Neal was instrumental in the Authentic Brands Group acquisition of Reebok in August 2021. Now, the basketball legend has been tapped to lead the athletic brand’s reemergence in the sport he knows best.
After the hoops icon playfully teased the news on his personal Instagram account, the brand announced that O’Neal — the second-largest individual shareholder of Authentic — has been appointed to the newly created position of president of Reebok Basketball. This move is part of Authentic’s long-term strategy to become a major player in team sports and focus on Reebok’s commitment to performance basketball.
“This is not a consulting role. This is not a figurehead announcement where we create a cool title and then he goes away and calls me once in a while,” Reebok CEO Todd Krinsky told FN. “He’s committed to how we reenter the basketball community, everything from product to marketing to events. He’s got a sharp point of view on things, but he’s also very collaborative and he’s open minded on how we can reenter.”
Authentic president and chief marketing officer Nick Woodhouse added, “There is incredible value added with his opinion, and candidly, his power to sway people and to move negotiations forward. This is a natural progression for Shaquille, to not just be an athlete who is endorsed but to be someone whose seat at the table is more powerful than arguably anybody’s at Reebok, to be honest.”
In this role, O’Neal — who signed with Reebok in 1992 and wore iconic signature shoes, such as the Shaq Attaq and Shaqnosis — will be tasked with leading the brand’s basketball category strategy and cultivating partnerships with athletes and organizations, with a goal of returning to dominance in the sport.
“It’s all about product, players and the community and having the confidence to do things our own way,” O’Neal said. “We need to capitalize on Reebok’s heritage and product expertise in the sport for today’s youth, but also focus on getting involved in the community from a grassroots level. We’re going to bring in a new generation of players who have strong authenticity and passion, or what I like to refer to as the it factor, who can put their own mark on this brand and make it relevant to a whole new generation.”
Elevating Reebok’s All-Stars
Aside from the new role for O’Neal, Reebok has also named NBA great Allen Iverson the VP of Reebok Basketball. In this role, Reebok said Iverson — who signed a deal with the brand ahead of his rookie season in 1996 — will “drive player recruitment, grassroots and community-based initiatives and athlete activations,” such as the Iverson Classic high school basketball showcase.
“We’re taking two of the most iconic athletes for Reebok, with one signing in ’92 and the other in ’96, and instead of just having them be athletes that we give product to today or consult with us, we’re putting them in real management roles. This is a movement that really hasn’t happened in our industry,” Krinsky said. “We’ve got legacy athletes, 20-plus year relationships, and we’re putting them in positions of management to help us in the boardroom and to catapult the brand.”
O’Neal added, “I know firsthand how serious Todd, Reebok senior leadership, [Authentic founder, chairman and CEO] Jamie [Salter], Nick and the team at Authentic really are about this. I think AI’s and my appointments are a testament to that. We have some of the industry’s best working on Reebok Basketball and a heritage and history in the sport that other brands can’t buy or replicate.”
Why now?
Authentic acquired Reebok from Adidas in August 2021 for roughly $2.5 billion at a time when the basketball category — which had long been in a lull — was starting to heat up. This traction was in part due to the increase in competition.
Puma, for instance, began its push to once again have an on-court presence in June 2018. New Balance followed in November 2018 by signing NBA star Kawhi Leonard, and Converse announced its return in April 2019. Most recently, Skechers made headlines when its court-ready basketball shoes appeared on the feet of Los Angeles Clippers guard Terance Mann and New York Knicks forward Julius Randle at Media Day at the start of the month.
Despite there being more competition, Krinsky is confident Reebok, with its rich heritage in the sport, has the upper hand.
“When Reebok was big in basketball, when we had significant market share around the world, it was because we had a unique, disruptive voice,” said Krinsky, a veteran of Reebok for 30-plus years who assumed the CEO role in September 2022. “Irreverent personalities, the way we fused music and basketball, the stories we told, the partnerships we created. And then it was disruptive products like Pump and the Iverson product. That formula, what we created back then, those elements are what we want to introduce into the market today. Not that playbook, but a new playbook with that feeling and that flavor. We have institutional knowledge of how to do that.”
Woodhouse added, “Reebok has a firm place in culture and in fashion, and it’s one of the few brands that has permission to do both. I think that’s going to be the point of difference. We can come at it from a fashion lens as well, and no one’s going to be surprised because of our terrific retro business and we can also come in from performance.”
Also, the influence of basketball is unrivaled in team sports today. For example, the NBA’s official instagram account has 83.4 million followers, and the league with the next largest following is the NFL, with 82.4 million.
Krinsky referred to the sport, and its surrounding culture, as “a cultural lightning rod.”
“Basketball is in a bit of a renaissance period. It’s the most talked about, more than other sports. And it’s more than just selling sneakers. It’s the stories, the culture, the personalities. The expression of basketball is so big around the world,” Krinsky said.
Woodhouse added, “Global basketball is so big now, it’s growing. It isn’t all about the NBA. And you’ve got this proliferation of people capturing what athletes are wearing on their feet everywhere, not just on the court. The sport of basketball drives culture around the world. I don’t think it’s ever been cooler than it is today.”
Because of this, Reebok’s strategy will not focus solely on one element of the sport.
“We want to approach the entire basketball community. The NBA player is the crescendo and legitimizes you as having great performance product — and you need that. But there’s a lot of other new emerging elements of the community that may not have existed before,” Krinsky said. “We’re taking a wide net over what we think basketball culture is today, and it’s more than just the player.”
Although he declined to divulge details, Krinsky shared that Reebok in talks with three to five players who have “pretty big names,” with “some playing NBA arenas and some not.”
Krinsky also confirmed a new energy-returning performance technology is on the way.
“It’s not ready for prime time yet, but we have taken a new generation of designers and they have reimagined one of the innovations that was amazing for us before,” Krinsky said. “We’re just getting samples back now and we’re starting to test samples with the local high schools.”
Although Krinsky said this innovation is for newer products, the exec also stated there are plans to fuse Reebok’s retro stories. Woodhouse was a bit more direct, and stated the brand might release past performance product with modern tech upgrades, similar to Nike with its Protro releases and Under Armour with FloTro.
“You’ll easily be able to tell its Iverson-influenced or Shaquille-influenced, but with modern technology,” Woodhouse said. “That is absolutely the plan, similar to what other brands have done, like [Nike with] the [Kobe 6] ‘Grinch’ Protro.”
