Table of Contents
Shaquille O’Neal’s feet are so large that he once immersed his small shoes in hot water to force them to grow
Shaquille O’Neal, the NBA legend, is a big man. He is almost 7 feet tall and weighed more than 300 pounds during his playing days. However, while O’Neal’s size contributed to him becoming the basketball giant he is today, it also resulted in the former Los Angeles Lakers’ great struggle to locate the correct shoes when he was younger.
Shaq even attempted to grow his leather shoes by immersing them in water at one point.
Shaquille O’Neal’s shoe size is enormous
Shaquille O’Neal is an NBA legend.
Shaq has some huge shoes and once put some small ones in hot water to grow them.
Shaq’s sneakers are enormous, just like his height and muscled physique.
The 15-time All-Star is a size 22 shoe.
However, while he didn’t have to worry about finding footwear that fit him during his NBA career, O’Neal did as a child.
As a result, he later assisted a 13-year-old in purchasing size-18 sneakers.
“Mom couldn’t afford to buy shoes.”
“The youngster has huge feet,” O’Neal told WGCL-TV in 2019 after purchasing ten pairs of shoes for the child, according to the Los Angeles Times.
“It used to be just me, my mother, and my father.”
Because his parents couldn’t afford to purchase him the nicest footwear when he was younger, Shaq admitted that he once had to “cut grass, walk dogs, [and] babysit” for money in order to buy some Air Jordans.
However, money could not buy him what he desired.
Shaq soaked his Air Jordans in boiling water
Despite having adequate money, O’Neal quickly realized that it wouldn’t be enough because no shoes in his size were available.
“I tried them on, stretched them, and walked to school, and they were really hurting,” he told Complex.
“Those were the final pair of Jordans I owned….” Because of those shoes, I now have corns.”
So, because O’Neal was clearly in discomfort, he tried a different approach to get his shoes to fit.
“It’s an old custom among us that if you put hot water in leather, you can expand it,” he added.
“That’s what my great-grandmother and grandma told me.”
It worked at times and didn’t at others. And it didn’t work with my Jordans.
I also took part in them. I wore them for an entire season and my feet are horrible.”
That is truly unfortunate and sounds extremely terrible.
But it all worked out in the end for Shaq.
Also, read Giancarlo Stanton, Matthew Christopher Schnell, John Daly’s Married Life:
Later, Shaquille O’Neal released his own sneakers
Shaq never had to worry about not having enough money for shoes after he became a wealthy basketball player.
Early in his career, he even obtained an endorsement contract with Reebok and created his own trademark sneaker.
However, the Hall of Famer left the athletic company after a woman complained about the price of his sneakers.
As a result, O’Neal launched his own Shaq brand, which Walmart began selling for children at a considerably lower price.
“I went to my favorite store, Walmart,” he stated on the Full Send Podcast, according to Yahoo.
“I went in every store, and my pricing point for the shoes was $29-$19, and we’ve sold over 400 million pairs since then.”
O’Neal, on the other hand, is still associated with Reebok, as his business, Authentic Brands Group, purchased it earlier this year.
However, his shoes are still reasonably priced for small children today.
But if his footwear had been accessible when he was younger, he wouldn’t have had to soak his Jordans in water.
However, tall children can now rely on the large man.
Shaquille O’Neal can thank a chance babysitting opportunity for helping him build his massive $400 million fortune.
