Athletic brand Nike Inc. faced an epic embarrassment at a basketball event on Wednesday night.
Zion Williamson the star of Duke University, and the No. 1 pick for the National Basketball Association draft sprained his knee when his Nike sneaker fell apart against in-state rival North Carolina.
The injury happened after Williamson planted his foot to change direction. His left shoe came apart causing him to fall apart awkwardly.
Zion's shoe: destroyed 😳 pic.twitter.com/LqQ2te0Jay
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) February 21, 2019
The company received enough attention on social media, also Nike’s stocks fell 1.8 percent at the NYSE.
Nike in a statement wished Zion a speedy recovery, and also added that “while this is an isolated occurrence, we are working to identify the issue.”
Nike has more than 90 percent of the basketball market share, it reported annual sales worth US$ 4.3 billion in 2018.
Williamson has a good case if there is enough proof that the shoe was misused or damaged after it left the factory. Nike and adidas have exclusive rights over jerseys and kits with top basketball schools.
Former President Barack Obama, courtside at the high-profile clash, was shown on video appearing to say with an incredulous look: “His shoe broke!”
“His shoe broke.”
President Barack Obama knew what was happening as soon as Zion Willamson went down
🎥 @ChaseHughesNBCS pic.twitter.com/7sneMhzlOD
— SB Nation (@SBNation) February 21, 2019
Meanwhile Nike also has drawn criticism for a laceless shoe that you can control with your phone. Users were unable to connect with the android version of the apps.
In 2017 as well Nike was official supplier of NBA uniforms which ripped apart.