When Shaquille O’Neal faced the ultimate shoe dilemma as he turned to hot water to fit his size 22 feet
For NBA legend and Basketball Hall-of-Famer Shaquille O’Neal, being tall and big served him well in his illustrious career. He, however, admitted that it did not come without challenges.
Among the things he had to grapple with, especially early in his basketball journey, was finding the right shoe to fit his size 22 feet.
The four-time NBA champion shared that the dilemma was so challenging that he had to resort to unconventional ways to address the problem, including turning to hot water.
In one of his interviews last year, Shaquille O’Neal shared that while they had enough money back in the day to buy shoes, there were not many in his size.
Shaq said, in an interview with Complex:
“I tried them on, and I stretched them, and I was walking to school, and they was just hurting.”
Confronted with such problem, the Los Angeles Laker and Miami Heat great continued that they had to find ways, no matter how unconventional, to make things work, saying:
“For us, it’s an old tradition that if you put hot water in leather, you can stretch them. My great-grandmother and my grandmother told me that. Sometimes it worked, sometimes it didn’t … And actually I played in them (shoes), too. I played a whole season in them, and my feet are terrible.”
As Shaquille O’Neal’s career progressed and reached greater heights, finding the right shoes became less of a problem, with the big man signing a lucrative deal with fitness and sportswear company Reebok during his playing career.
His partnership with Reebok spawned many classic silhouettes like the Shaq Attaq and Shaqnosis, which until to this day, are one of the most coveted pairs for both collectors and fans.
He also has his own line of affordable shoes under the Shaq and Dunkman brands available in different stores.
Watch: When former president Barack Obama was gifted Shaquille O'Neal's size 23 shoes
The shoe stories involving Shaquille O’Neal are plenty, including one with former United States President Barack Obama.
The NBA legend wanted to gift Obama a pair of shoes, which eventually happened when the former U.S. leader visited Phoenix in 2009.
Shaquille O’Neal was not able to give it personally to the president but Obama did get it and was happy to receive the pair. The two-term president was amazed at how big the shoe was and comparing it to his own shoe.
Below is the video:
Shaquille O’Neal recalled the moment in an interview with Complex, saying that Obama did call him to say thank you.