Nike ends relations with Kyrie
Sneaker giant Nike has officially cut ties with Nets star Kyrie Irving.
The popular shoe brand suspended its relationship with Irving after he got in trouble for failing to apologize for posting a link to an antisemitic film on his social media feeds.
Irving cleared an eightgame suspension without pay to return to to the Nets, but Nike did not renew his deal.
Irving has long owned one of Nike’s most profitable and popular sneaker lines. After news of Nike’s decision broke, the star guard tweeted a graphic with the caption “Let the party begin.”
He then suggested he’s going to find another route to selling sneakers independently.
“Anyone who has even spent their hard earned money on anything I have ever released, I consider you FAMILY and we are forever connected,” he wrote in a tweet. “It’s time to show how powerful we are as a community.”
He also tweeted a graphic with the caption: “There’s nothing more priceless than being free.”
Last season, ESPN reported Nike was unwilling to extend Irving’s contract beyond the 2022-23 NBA season while he was embroiled in controversy for his decision not to get vaccinated against COVID-19.
Nike initially suspended its relationship with Irving four days before his new signature shoe, the Kyrie 8, was set to release.
Irving was part of a three-headed Nike NBA trio — including LeBron James and Irving’s Nets teammate Kevin Durant — that had a stranglehold on performance basketball sneaker market.
He is averaging just over 24 points, four rebounds and four assists for the Nets this season.