Nike severed ties with Kyrie Irving while he still had the best-selling signature shoe of any active player in the NBA on its roster, because he was too “controversial” and they needed to protect the company’s image from his “hate speech.”
Meanwhile…Nike has at least 36 stores in Israel. The same Israel that the United Nations declared as committing a genocide against Palestinians. I guess that’s not “controversial” or hateful enough to sever ties.
Ky bounced, regrouped, and reemerged with ANTA.
The result…
“ANTA was the fastest-growing sneaker brand on StockX in 2024, with 1,901% year-over-year trade growth, and multiple reports attribute that surge largely to Kyrie’s KAI.”
Nike, they’re trying to blame bad sales on NBA players not being as popular, at a time when the NBA is experiencing its highest viewership in 15 years.