So many sports stars look for prestige and back their name onto products that become desirable largely for the name-brand and the unobtainable price. Kids have gone hungry to rock Jordans, people have been beaten for a pair of special edition Nike. This is all madness and cash hunting celebrities have some part in the blame of kids being bullied in the school yard. They push this culture and even make it worse. Wearing a gold chain and a $200 pair of sneakers, telling kids this is where they need to head.
But one man stands above all of this, not only in stature. I have so much respect for Shaquille O’ Neal. If he is not building projects to make jobs he is turning up as backup for a cop during a game of pick up one afternoon! This man just does what is right again and again.
Then there is the Shaq brand of sneakers. Some laugh because they are cheap, they don’t have the special editions, the made-up accolade. But Shaq wanted his sneakers to reach the kids who couldn’t afford the other celeb endorsed shoes. Shaq showed he gave a damn about the kids and stuck a middle finger up to the money.
And on 9th April he posted this to his facebook page:
Laugh all you want, the Shaq brand has sold over 120 millions pairs of affordable shoes for kids @Walmart — with Walmart.
Some of the comments go to show how much his decision means to some people.
Here are some of them…
Chachi Lok: when i was real young we couldn’t even afford new shoes. i wore hand me downs. My mom suddenly surprised me with a pair of white and red Shaq’s. Thanks for making me feel like the freshest kid on the playground!
Tony Vitiello: Ain’t nobody laughing shaq, we love you & we’ll always support you. thanks for all the work you do from Miami! I remember crying when you left the team as a kid.
Toni Polito Baird: After Katrina our school and many others in Baton Rouge received boxes and boxes of free Shaq’s shoes for the displaced children who had nothing after the storm…..it was a beautiful gesture from our Shaq !!! I am sure this was not publicized……♥♥♥
Ali El-rifai: Much respect man why would anyone laugh, I remember when I was 11 buying my first ball shoes and they were the Grey and white Shaqs from Walmart. Thank you so much Shaq your shoes made me continue to play basketball and enjoy it
The comments are enough to bring a tear to your eyes! Seems he really genuinely helped so many. Read more here: http://bit.ly/1OMDxhb
Remember that, 120 million pairs of AFFORDABLE shoes. Now we gotta teach our kids and ourselves that a $200 pair of shoes don’t make a man.
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