Full Send Podcast (DR) / TNT (DR)
Former rivals in the rackets NBA, Dennis Rodman and Shaquille O’Neal have not always presented very cordial reports. This was seen, for example, in one of The Worm’s books, where he had literally charred the Diesel!
Their meeting at the 75th Anniversary Team ceremony a few weeks ago did not necessarily go well. Gathered on the floor of the Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse on February 20, Dennis Rodman and Shaquille O’Neal had not exchanged much. On the other hand, the former pivot of the Lakers had afterwards made a pleasure of destroy his counterpart for his attitude. But he is not the first to have lit the fuse.
Dennis Rodman takes apart the business side of Shaq
In his book Walk On The Wild Side published in 1997, Dennis Rodman had reserved a passage of his work to the management of his brand image, to which he attached, and still attaches great importance. The opportunity for him to mention the case of Shaquille O’Nealalso a great businessman highly appreciated by advertisers… and to shoot down his advertising practices!
Some people wonder why companies would want someone as controversial as me to sell their products. I’ll tell you why, and everyone knows it. Customers aren’t totally dumb. They see through the attitude of someone like Shaquille O’Neal, who not only prostitutes himself with a million sponsors, but who also behaves like a fucking idiot.
You’re going to see Shaq being interviewed live on TV, and he’s going to say something like he just wants to be young, have fun, and drink Pepsi. Well yes. No one is going to decently believe that’s what they really want. It’s so obvious it’s a bunch of bullshit. He might as well dress as a can of Pepsi when he plays. No one should want to sell such a bad product. IT IS PATHETIC.
Vibe. As you will have understood, D-Rod does not joke when it comes to paid partnerships, even if he admits to having long been ready to do anything to scratch a nice additional salary.
The idea of wanting to lend your name to a company is bizarre. It’s tempting to accept some of these offers, because the money is so easy. This was especially true early in my career, before my salary was so high.
It’s easy for me now to be selective, but before it was damn hard not to jump at any opportunity. Luckily, I didn’t get many offers before I went crazy, so the temptations were kind of not there. I’m proud that I never sold my soul and licked ass. But the line is always fine when people are selling your name.
At only 24 years old at the time of the publication of these lines, Shaquille O’Neal had therefore had to taste this scathing criticism from Dennis Rodman himself. This did not prevent him from remaining one of the favorite mascots of the biggest US brands!
