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Issue link: http://dimemagazine.epubxp.com/i/130678
secure them pairs (only 80,000 to 85,000 pairs are expected in the initial launch). And everyone involved promises "no remixes." It'll be the Shaq Attaq original silhouette, with both the legendary and new colorways. "They still look good," Shaq says. "My whole thought process when I was helping design them was I wanted to create something that was futuristic. If you look at this cosmic blue, you know this shit wasn't out in '92. So when we frst did them, there were a lot of people in the upstairs offce that were like 'Shit ain't gonna sell.' A lot of times we had a lot of fghts with them, but I had to try to get them to see in the future." Twenty years later, O'Neal is now just a talking head. Yet his sneakers are still glorifed on Internet forums everywhere. While the Shaqnosis was popular because of its unique upper design – O'Neal says he named the shoe after staring at it made him dizzy – the Shaq Attaq was considered ahead of its time right from the start. The cosmic blue was different and revolutionary. The Reebok Pump added fair, and the shoe was incredibly sleek, a frst for a big man product. Despite much of the shoe's hype evolving through Twitter and Instagram, Swizz Beatz says they're planning to put some advertising money behind the product. O'Neal is happy about that, especially after the way the original advertising campaign helped launch the Shaq Attaq. When the shoe originally released, O'Neal wrote a Reebok ad featuring legendary centers Bill Russell, Wilt Chamberlain, Bill Walton and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar initiating the Orlando rookie into their circle of greatness. It was the perfect starting point for the Shaq Attaq, and the perfect entrance into the NBA for O'Neal. "I remember in college, my marketing professor told me, 'Big guys will never sell,'" O'Neal says. "So I had to fgure a way out to make people remember. For me, marketing is about getting people to react, so I knew if I got people to react then they would hopefully remember what the product was. I know if I bring in all the legends, all the old people would say, 'Okay, who is this Shaq guy?'" The recent re-releases of Allen Iverson's Question and the Answer IV were successful, but the return of the Shaq Attaq, and the Shaqnosis later, might prove to be even bigger. "He's an icon," says Swizz Beatz of O'Neal. "He can walk anywhere in the world and they're gonna know that's Shaq. That's it. He's an icon, and he's an icon that people connect to." The Reebok Shaq Attaq will release on April 19 for $160 at key retailers. The Reebok Shaqnosis will release on July 19 for $125 at key retailers. Head to Reebok.com for more details. 33