INSTANT REGRET? Reebok’s Angel Reese Endorsement Flops Spectacularly — “Worst Branding Disaster Ever?”

Reebok’s much-hyped basketball reboot, spearheaded by NBA legend Shaquille O’Neal’s involvement, promised a fresh start and a new generation of hoop icons.

Central to that vision was Angel Reese, the Chicago Sky forward and 2022 national champion, tapped to be the brand’s breakout star with a signature shoe slated for 2026.

But what was meant to be a slam dunk has turned into a marketing nightmare.

Instead of highlight-reel dunks and game-winning plays, Reese’s performances have become synonymous with missed layups, turnovers, and baffling inefficiency.

In just her second professional season, Reese is posting an astonishingly low 31.5% shooting on layups—the simplest shot in basketball—while taking the third most layup attempts in the entire WNBA.

This glaring inefficiency has left analysts scratching their heads and fans cringing.

“It’s almost like experimental theater,” one commentator quipped, as broadcasters struggled to maintain composure during Reese’s repeated miscues.

On more than one occasion, the live commentary has devolved into audible chuckles and disbelief, a disastrous scenario for a brand trying to build credibility around its new poster athlete.

The infamous moment came during a game against the New York Liberty, where Reese missed four putbacks in a span of 12 seconds, with two of those attempts slammed back as if she were battling an invisible brick wall.

The clip quickly went viral—not as an inspirational highlight, but as fodder for clown music edits and mockery across social media platforms.

Meanwhile, contemporaries like Caitlin Clark are drawing comparisons to generational NBA talents, packing arenas, and dazzling fans without the embarrassing miscues that have become Reese’s unintended signature.

Reese’s overall shooting percentage stands at a modest 44.4%, but that figure belies the reality that most of her shots are close to the basket—where players typically boast 70-80% efficiency.

The contrast is stark and damaging, especially for Reebok, which has placed its bets on Reese as the face of its basketball revival.

The Chicago Sky’s season hasn’t helped matters.

With a dismal 7-21 record and an eight-game losing streak, the team’s struggles mirror Reese’s personal woes.

When she’s sidelined—most recently due to a back injury—the team’s performance doesn’t improve, creating a paradox where the Sky are “bad with her and somehow worse without her.”

Reebok CEO Todd Kinsky’s glowing comparisons of Reese to legends like Allen Iverson and Shaquille O’Neal now sound painfully premature.

While those icons transformed the game with dominant performances, Reese’s current highlight reel reads more like a blooper compilation.

Industry insiders whisper that Reebok may have rushed into the deal, seduced by Reese’s name recognition and potential cultural cachet without fully vetting whether her game matched the brand’s ambitions.

Critics argue the endorsement now risks becoming a textbook case of chasing headlines over substance—a multi-year, multi-million-dollar fiasco in the making.

Social media has been relentless.

Fans have crafted montages of Reese’s most baffling misses, complete with zoom-ins and circus music, turning what should be a rising star’s campaign into a viral punchline.

For a brand trying to reignite interest in basketball footwear, this is exactly the kind of attention they desperately wanted to avoid.

Even broadcasters, trained to hype every play, have found themselves unable to mask their disbelief.

One announcer’s audible laughter after yet another point-blank miss was a stark signal that the endorsement’s optics are spiraling out of control.

Reese’s recent back injury, while unfortunate, provided an unexpected reprieve for Reebok.

Her absence paused the cycle of viral misses and gave the brand a moment to regroup.

However, it also meant missing a highly anticipated matchup against the Indiana Fever—a game fans were curious about, if only to witness whether Reese could finally deliver on expectations.

The timing couldn’t have been more awkward.

Instead of a showcase duel, fans were left wondering if Reebok’s gamble was already a lost cause.

With the signature shoe launch still two years away, Reebok faces a daunting challenge: how to rebuild confidence in a partnership that’s become synonymous with underperformance and public ridicule.

Will they double down on Reese’s potential and hope for a turnaround?

Or pivot quickly to salvage their brand reputation before the damage becomes irreversible?

One thing is clear: in the high-stakes world of sports endorsements, talent alone isn’t enough.

Consistency, marketability, and on-court success remain king.

And right now, Angel Reese’s Reebok deal is serving as a cautionary tale for brands chasing the next big thing without fully reading the playbook.

As the basketball world watches this unfolding saga, one can’t help but wonder—did Reebok jump the gun, or is this just a rough patch in what could still be a promising career?

Only time will tell, but for now, the brand’s gamble looks like a costly misstep that has fans and critics alike shaking their heads in disbelief.