Most athletes, especially those with a series of different signature sneakers, are hesitant to name a specific shoe as their favorite. The response to the question is typically a generic “I love them all, man” type of response. But in case you needed a reminder, Shaquille O’Neal is a different beast. Shaq has never been hesitant to vocalize his favorite sneakers. So what is Shaq’s favorite?
Surprisingly, it’s not his first sneaker, the Reebok Shaq Attaq. It’s also not his Shaq branded sneakers that are available at Walmart. Although judging from his recent Facebook post (below), he is pretty proud of the 120 million pairs of affordable sneakers that have sold.
As he shared back in the day during an MTV Cribs episode, and then later re-confirmed in an interview more recently, the Diesel’s favorite sneaker is the Reebok Shaqnosis. The Shaqnosis was O’Neal’s fifth signature sneaker with Reebok and originally released in 1995. Shaq says, “They were unorthodox. It made you look at them. It made you give a reaction. Either good or bad, and a lot a people that didn’t have the same mindset we had were like, “What the f**k?”
On the court, Shaquille O’Neal helped make the Shaqnosis a classic with his performance in the shoe. Shaq averaged about 27 points, 11 rebounds and over 2 blocks per game, leading the Orlando Magic to a franchise best 60-22 record in 1995.
Originally, Reebok limited the Shaqnosis to one colorway despite Shaq wanting more colorways. But when Shaq teamed up with Reebok for the retro version in 2013, they let loose a handful of colorways inspired by O’Neal’s time with his former teams like the Orlando Magic and Miami Heat, among other inspirations. Shaq’s sneakers may not be the most coveted but for the people that do collect the Big Man’s shoes, the Shaqnosis is always near the top of the Cop List.
Shaq’s favorite sneaker, the Reebok Shaqnosis.
