Kyrie Irving’s relationship with Nike is officially over, the shoe and athletic apparel maker said Monday, a move that came a month after the company suspended the Brooklyn guard as part of the fallout over his tweeting a link to a film containing antisemitic material.
It was not a surprise breakup, especially
after Nike co-founder Phil Knight said in the days after the company suspended
Irving that he had doubts there would be any reconciliation.
“Kyrie Irving is no longer a Nike athlete,”
the company said in a statement.
Irving’s agent and stepmother, Shetellia
Riley Irving, told The New York Times that the sides “mutually decided to part
ways and we just wish Nike all the best.” Irving, without mentioning Nike by
name, appeared to address the matter on his Twitter account Monday afternoon.
“Anyone who has even spent their hard
earned money on anything I have ever released, I consider you FAMILY and we are
forever connected,” the Nets guard wrote. “it’s time to show how powerful we
are as a community.”
Irving has been wearing his signature line
of Nike in recent games. It’s unknown if the formal ending of his relationship
with Nike will affect that, at least in the short term. He had been a Nike
athlete for the entirety of his NBA career, starting in 2011, and got his first
signature shoe with the company in 2014.
When Nike suspended Irving in early
November, the company was just days away from releasing the Kyrie 8, what would
have been the latest in his signature line.
“At Nike, we believe there is no place for
hate speech and we condemn any form of antisemitism,” the Beaverton,
Oregon-based company said at the time.
Irving missed eight games before being
reinstated by the Nets on Nov. 20. He apologized that day to those who felt
threatened or hurt when he posted a link to the documentary, and acknowledged
that he should have handled earlier chances to clarify whether he has
antisemitic beliefs differently.
“I don’t stand for anything close to hate
speech or antisemitism or anything that is going against the human race,”
Irving said on the day the Nets reinstated him.
Irving has expressed no shortage of
controversial opinions during his career. He repeatedly questioned whether the
Earth was round before eventually apologizing to science teachers. Last year,
his refusal to get a COVID-19 vaccine led to him being banned from playing in
most of the Nets’ home games. -AP
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