Basketball legend and NBA Hall of Famer Shaquille O’Neal has managed to explore some pretty significant business ventures off the court.
However, when it came to one of his deals with Auntie Anne’s, the 15-time NBA All-Star did not quite think that move was a slam dunk.
In an interview last year on the “Earn Your Leisure” podcast, Shaq gave an unusual reason why he decided to let go of his Auntie Anne’s stores.
“You know we love pizza. I sold my Auntie Anne’s. Because Black people don’t like pretzels that much. So I had to switch it up,” he said.
It’s unclear if the NBA Hall of Famer still owns all 17 of his Auntie Anne’s franchise stores across the U.S. that were reportedly in his portfolio.
The interviewer claimed that (Black) people eat cinnamon pretzels, but Shaq quickly rejected that statement during the on-stage banter, as he referenced only basing his business decisions on logic and rationale, not emotions.
Shaq has ventured into a variety of spaces that include Auntie Anne’s, a Krispy Kreme franchise, Five Guys restaurants, a movie theater, and several Papa John’s branches.
He even has a burger place named after him called Shaquille’s in Los Angeles.
In an interview with journalist Graham Bensinger, Shaq shared a conversation he had with his agent, and his biggest business mistake: turning down Starbucks due to a similar sentiment.
“’Howard Schultz wants to do business with you,’ And I’m like, ‘Coffee?’ Because growing up, in my household, I’d never seen a Black person drink coffee. ‘Black people don’t drink coffee, sir. I don’t think it’s going to work.’ And you should have seen his face,” Shaq recalled.
Despite seeing a Starbucks on almost every corner in major cities, he reflects back to the situation as a business lesson and what comes with making tough decisions.