The Shaq Brand is entering a new phase — and this time, it’s being shaped by a new generation.
On a recent episode of The Big Podcast with Shaq, Shaquille O’Neal revealed that his son, Shareef O’Neal, is officially stepping into a leadership role within the family sneaker business.
According to Shaq, Shareef is now driving much of the creative direction behind the Shaq Brand, marking a shift away from his father’s day-to-day involvement.
“My son is taking over now because my s**t was kind of old,” O’Neal said during the podcast. He explained that Shareef approached him with a clear idea of who he wanted to design for. “He said, ‘Dad, let me create something for the YNs.’ I didn’t even know what YNs were.”
Shareef, 25, has been named the brand’s creative strategist and has already begun unveiling new designs, including the updated SHAQ Dunkman 1.0. O’Neal noted that many of the newer styles being introduced weren’t his concepts at all. “A lot of these are his designs,” he said, pointing to shoes displayed behind him during the show.
The move represents a natural handoff for a brand that was built with accessibility in mind from the start. Shaq famously walked away from a lucrative Reebok deal in 1998 after hearing from a mother who told him her kids couldn’t afford his sneakers. That conversation led him to partner with Walmart and create an affordable shoe line aimed at younger fans.
“Remember, you ain’t never had no shoes that cost more than $40,” Shaq recalled his mother telling him. “I said to myself, ‘All right, I’m gonna start my own line.’”
Since then, the Shaq Brand has become one of the most successful athlete-backed footwear ventures ever, selling more than 470 million pairs of shoes, according to O’Neal. The brand later reconnected with Reebok, where Shaq now serves as president of Reebok Basketball and holds ownership ties through Authentic Brands Group.
Shareef’s transition into the business world follows a brief basketball career that included stops at UCLA and LSU, as well as limited NBA opportunities. He has also explored fashion before, collaborating with BoohooMAN in 2022 on a sports-inspired apparel line alongside his brother.
Guest co-host Bill Bellamy summed up the moment on the podcast, praising the handoff as timely. “Creatively, what Shareef is bringing to the brand is going to touch a whole new demographic,” he said.