Louisian State University basketball phenom and Randallstown native Angel Reese has signed a deal with Reebok to re-launch its Reebok Basketball category beginning in 2024.
Boardroom.tv reports that the company signed Reese to a multi-year endorsement deal that involves her curating a portal of products on Reebok.com called “Angel’s Picks,” then working on her own capsule collection scheduled to launch in the Fall/Winter 2024 season.
Shaquille O’Neal, president of Reebok Basketball, also was a star basketball player at LSU 30 years ago. The legend signed with Reebok in 1992 and launched the company’s first signature shoe, the “Shaq Attaq.” He was determined that his first signing as president begin this new chapter for the company with a splash.
“For my first appointment in this role, it had to be the GOAT,” O’Neal said. “There is no one making a bigger impact on the game right now than Angel Reese.”
“I am honored to be working closely with one of my longtime mentors, Shaq, along with a brand that I have admired since I was just a little kid,” Reese said. “It means the world to me that they trust in me to extend their legacy to a new generation.”
Reebok’s CEO Todd Krinsky applauded the move.
“Angel has this unique mix of unapologetic swagger and style combined with off-the-charts athleticism,” Krinsky said. “Her individuality and personal irreverence are helping transform college sports and inspiring an entire generation. We’re thrilled to be working with Angel and look forward to further imprinting our presence on sports culture, together.”
“Angel is shaking up the space, just like Reebok has done all along,” O’Neal said. “I’m proud to welcome Angel into the Reebok family and can’t wait to see how she will bring the brand’s legacy to the next generation.”
In April during the NCAA Championship game, Reese and competitor Caitlin Clark were at the center of a media firestorm which illustrated the double standards to which people held Black athletes versus white athletes. Reese waved her hand in front of her face in a taunting gesture and was pilloried for it on social media and by sports broadcasters and journalists, while Clark had made the very same move in a previous game and been praised for her swagger.
Multiple people came to Reese’s defense, including O’Neal, calling out the racism and abuse being leveled at a 19-year-old student as unacceptable and unabashedly bigoted.
Reese herself called on her Baltimore roots to help her get through the episode. “I don’t fit the narrative and I’M OK WITH THAT,” she wrote in a tweet. “I’m from Baltimore where you hoop outside and talk trash. If It was a boy y’all wouldn’t be saying nun at all. Let’s normalize women showing passion for the game instead of it being ‘embarrassing.’”
The Baltimore area embraced Reese, dedicating a basketball court to her in her Randallstown hometown and inviting her to throw out the first pitch at an Orioles game. In July, Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott presented her with a key to the city. In August, she repaid the love by donating money to her alma mater, St. Frances Academy, to cover one year of tuition expenses for one student.
Now, she’s the face of Reebok’s Basketball brand re-launch.
“Together, I think we have a great opportunity to do things differently, to inspire people to explore and express themselves unapologetically, and to show them how to look and feel good while doing it,” Reese said.
