Kyrie Irving’s relationship with Nike is officially over, the shoe and athletic apparel maker said on Monday, a move that came a month after the company suspended the Brooklyn Nets guard as part of the fallout over his posting a link to a film containing anti-Semitic material.
It was not a surprise breakup, especially after Nike cofounder 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.
Photo: Wendell Cruz-USA TODAY
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 on 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,” he wrote. “it’s time to show how powerful we are as a community.”
Irving has been wearing his signature line of Nike in the past few games. It is unknown if the formal ending of his relationship with Nike would 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 early last month, the company was just days away from releasing the Kyrie 8, which 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 anti-Semitism,” 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 anti-Semitic beliefs differently.
“I don’t stand for anything close to hate speech or anti-Semitism or anything that is going against the human race,” Irving said on the day the Nets reinstated him.
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