Reebok named 76ers great Allen Iverson as its vice president of basketball on Thursday.
The move comes in conjunction with Shaquille O’Neal being named president of Reebok basketball by the shoe company. Both Hall of Famers are longtime brand partners with Reebok.
Iverson’s role will be to drive player recruitment, along with leading grassroots and community-based initiatives along with athlete activations similar to his annual Allen Iverson Roundball Classic.
The Sixers selected the guard with the first pick in the 1996 draft. He signed with Reebok before his rookie season. Iverson, 48, has a lifetime contract with Reebok, and will receive a $32 million trust on his 55th birthday thanks to a deal he signed in 2001. In addition, he reportedly receives an annual check of $800,000 as part of his lucrative deal.
Iverson, an 11-time all-star, played with the Sixers from 1996-2006 and during the 2009-10 season. He also had stints with the Nuggets, Pistons, and Grizzlies during his NBA career. Iverson briefly played for Besiktas Milangaz of the Turkish Basketball League in 2010-11. He averaged 26.7 points in his NBA career and carried the Sixers to the NBA Finals in 2001.
The newly created positions for O’Neal and Iverson come after Reebok’s announcement earlier this month that it would retool its strategy and work to reemerge in the team sports world and focus on its commitment to basketball performance.
Iverson has also been a longtime partner of the shoe company, and in his new role, is expected to "drive player recruitment, grassroots and community-based initiatives, and athlete activations like the Iverson Classic."
O'Neal, considered one of the most dominant centers in NBA history, played 19 years in the league, winning four titles, three with the Los Angeles Lakers and one with the Miami Heat. He was named the league's most valuable player in 2000.
Iverson, one of the most revolutionary scoring guards to play the game, spent the majority of his 14-year career with the Philadelphia 76ers, leading them to one NBA Finals appearance, which they lost to O'Neal's Lakers in 2001, the same season he was named NBA MVP.
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