Darrell Armstrong once had the audacity to dunk in Shaquille O'Neal's size 22 shoes, leading to major dunk contest blooper
Darrell Armstrong was NBA's most explosive dunkers during his prime. In fact, during the 1996 All-Star weekend, he showcased his ability during the dunk contest.
However, Armstrong had a plan that would have secured his spot in NBA history –had he gone through with it. He planned to dunk while wearing Orlando Magic teammate Shaquille O'Neal's size 22 Reebok sneakers.
However, Armstrong made a head-scratching mistake during the early rounds of the 1996 dunk contest by opting to score a layup rather than a dunk. As such, the Orlando Magic guard never progressed into the deeper rounds rounds – where he reportedly wanted to dunk over Shaquille O'Neal while wearing his oversized sneakers.
Nonetheless, Armstrong made NBA history that night. However, such history is that he was the first athlete to score a layup in the dunk contest. He was the first person to be featured in the "Shaqtin' A Fool" lowlight reel.
It wasn't what Armstrong had hoped for from the dunk contest, but despite not being able to demonstrate his skill to dunk in size 22s, he gave NBA fans a chance to laugh and smile.
Shaquille O'Neal left his deal with Reebok
If Darrell Armstrong had performed his dunk in Shaquille O'Neal's Reeboks, it would have been some excellent advertising for the sneaker brand. However, Reeboks deal with Shaquille O'Neal ultimately came to an abrupt end.
During an appearance on the "Full-Send Podcast," O'Neal talked about the reason that led him to end his partnership with Reebok and begin making his own shoe line.
"I had a Reebok deal, 40(million dollars) for five(years). And I'm leaving the area one day, and this lady, she's ripping me into half: 'You motherf***ers! You're charging these babies all this money for these shoes.' So, I had like $2,000 in my pocket, and I was like: 'Ma'am, I don't make the prices. Here you go.' And she smacked the money in my hand. 'Why don't you motherf***ers make a shoe that's affordable?'
"And I thought about it, and I was like: You know what? She's right. So, that day, I cut ties with Reebok ... I said, 'Keep the money … This ain’t right. I’ll still wear the shoes I wear during the season, but I’ll be looking to do my own thing.'"
Despite the large sums of money on the table, Shaquille O'Neal went with what he believed was right. Given O'Neal's success as a business man since retiring from the NBA, it's highly unlikely that he regrets his decision – even if his shoe line never took off in the way many had expected it to.