I was terribly saddened to see one of my all-time favorite NBA players, 19-year NBA veteran Shaquille O’Neal,
retire last week. As a longtime pro basketball fan, I’ve always loved the way Shaq dominated the league like no other big man in my lifetime.
Shaq’s fame is undisputable. After a successful career at Louisiana State, Shaq was named Rookie of the Year in 1992-1993. He went on to earn three consecutive championships with the Los Angeles Lakers from 2000-2002 and a fourth in 2006 with the Miami Heat. He also holds the 1999–2000 NBA MVP award, 15 All-Star game selections, three All-Star Game MVP awards and three Finals MVP awards.
While many are taking time following Shaq’s retirement to reflect on his numerous basketball achievements, I’d like to take a moment to talk about his marketing genius.
Before O’Neal, NBA big men were typically cited as “un-marketable”-- their tremendous size and strength makes them completely un-relatable to the common man. The ability of the charismatic Shaq to cross this barrier was the first sign that he was special and paved the way for titans like Dwight Howard today.
Fresh out of college and only 23 years old, Shaq was already pulling in nearly $20 million from premier companies like Reebok and Pepsi on top of a very, very healthy NBA contract. And, who could forget the fact that he also put out movies and rap albums (four in fact, with his first record, Shaq Diesel, somehow going platinum).
These endeavors, while deemed by many as foolish and a waste of time that would detract from his basketball career, made him seem more normal and provided a platform for his personality to shine through. People started to realize the amazing personality within the giant.
However, it wasn’t until a few years later that Shaq truly showed his savvy by starting his own shoe brand, providing affordable basketball shoes for less than $40 at discount stores like Payless and Shoe Carnival. Partnering with several companies, he has sold more than 90 million pairs of the shoes to date. He also recognized the potential in the emerging China market in 2006, and he took the brand there.
More recently, as Shaq’s basketball skills declined, he became as famous for being a social media maven. He was one of the first athletes to embrace Twitter and
used it to break the news about his retirement to his 3.8 million followers before announcing it to the media (strategically timed during the NBA Finals to generate maximum awareness).
He impacted the game like no other player before him and the NBA will certainly miss Shaq as will his many fans. However, I think we can all agree we haven’t seen (or heard) the last of him, and that whatever he has planned, it should be equally spectacular.