Fans roast Nike after top prospect Zion Williamson's shoe blowout
Nike executives lived their worst nightmare on Wednesday afternoon.
The shoe company took centre stage at the biggest college basketball game of the season for all the wrong reasons.
Zion Williamson, the Duke University phenom widely tipped to be the first pick at the next NBA Draft, was injured in the first minute of the game.
He went down clutching his knee after one of his Nike shoes blew out completely.
Williamson, the ACC’s second-leading scorer at 22.4 points per game and arguably the most exciting player in college basketball, walked off with a slight limp but under his own power before heading back to the locker room with no shoes on his feet.
Duke is four years into a 12-year deal with Nike as the exclusive supplier of uniforms, shoes and apparel.
The cause of the injury didn’t go unnoticed.
The game, against fellow college basketball juggernaut University of North Carolina, had been hyped as the biggest of the season.
Fans had paid thousands of dollars for seats, including former US president Barack Obama.
The former Commander in Chief knew what had happened instantly.
“His shoe broke.” pic.twitter.com/FAtpaF5uAt
— Chase Hughes (@ChaseHughesNBCS) February 21, 2019
Massive reaction
The huge stage only made matters worse for the shoe company.
Players and fans alike weighed in on the injury, including Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James.
Hope young fella is ok! Literally blew thru his 👟. 🙏🏾
— LeBron James (@KingJames) February 21, 2019
Execs at Nike gotta be cringing over this Zion injury. Your shoe pretty much explodes in what might be the most watched game of the season so far …and now the player everyone is tuned in to watch is on the bench. pic.twitter.com/mRV0B6JM96
— Popular Loner (@DJEkin) February 21, 2019
WHAT??? ZION'S SHOE BLOWS APART ON DUKE'S OPENING POSSESSION AND HE HURTS HIMSELF AS HE FALLS??? HAMSTRING OR BACK OF KNEE??? LIMPS TO LOCKER ROOM WITH OBAMA IN THE FRONT ROW? NEVER SEEN ANYTHING QUITE LIKE THIS.
— Skip Bayless (@RealSkipBayless) February 21, 2019
Rough start for Nike. Like really rough. pic.twitter.com/2t2C89EyXG
— Darren Rovell (@darrenrovell) February 21, 2019
Nike are reportedly the frontrunners to sign Williamson to a lucrative shoe deal once he reaches the NBA
Many were quick to point out just how bad of a look it was for the massive brand.
Although Williamson was eventually able to return to the bench under his own power, Duke issued a statement shortly after confirming he would not return to the game.