Very little has sidetracked sports apparel giant Nike, but the sight of one of its shoes disintegrating as a rising basketball superstar fell to the floor clutching his knee, with former President Obama looking on, appears to have done it, sending the company’s stock down in trading today.
At the closing bell, the apparel and fashion giant’s stock was down 1.07 percent, trading at $83.93 per share, less than a dollar off Wednesday’s closing price of $84.84.
The Blue Devils Zion Williamson was never under more of a spotlight than Wednesday night, when the front-runner to be taken No. 1 overall in June’s NBA draft squared off for the first time this season with Duke’s arch-nemesis, North Carolina.
Unfortunately for Williamson and college basketball fans everywhere — and very unfortunately for Nike — Williamson didn’t last long against the Tar Heels, because he was forced from the game in the first minute with a knee injury. The mishap occurred as the 285-pound forward was planting his left foot to pivot — and his shoe exploded.
Among those in attendance in Durham, N.C., was Obama, who was captured on video declaring, “His shoe broke.”
Barack Obama pointing out the fact that Zion’s “shoe broke” will forever go down in history pic.twitter.com/pVFqEBgbFo
— ment nelson (@mentnelson) February 21, 2019
While the episode only added to the burgeoning, Chuck Norris-esque myth-making surrounding Williamson, the inability of the shoe to stand up to the rigors of being used by the 6-7 forward made for a very, very bad look for Nike.
“It’s an isolated incident right now,” said Brian Yarbrough, consumer research analyst at financial services firm Edward Jones. “I think it does very little to the brand. It’s unfortunate that his knee got hurt, but I think it’s pretty minuscule in the grand scheme of things. This is one product, it’s one shoe line, and there are thousands of others. You think about the number of hours people play in these shoes, and this is pretty insignificant.”
Nike moved swiftly Wednesday night to promise an investigation into just what caused Williamson’s shoe to come apart during one of the most highly anticipated college basketball games of the season and on ESPN’s national telecast to boot.
Coach Mike Krzyzewski called Williamson’s injury a “minor knee sprain” and said the joint was “stable.”
The team announced late this afternoon that Williamson suffered a Grade 1 sprain to his right knee, that he is “progressing as expected” and will be day-to-day.
But the incident led some analysts to call for Williamson to sit out the remainder of the season even if his knee is healthy to protect his draft stock.
Footwear experts said Thursday the shoe’s rupture may have actually saved Williamson from a more significant injury.
A top-tier athlete exerts close to five times his or her body weight when making a sudden change in direction, said Kevin Ford, a professor of biomechanics at High Point University who studies high-performance athletic equipment.
Had the shoe not have given way for Williamson’s foot, Ford said, some 1,500 pounds of force would have concentrated on his knee.
Meanwhile, LiAngelo Ball suggested on behalf of his family’s company, Big Baller Brand, that those lousy Nike products couldn’t hold a candle to BBB shoes.
So we gon act like Zion Nike’s ain’t just rip in half??♂️. #BBB #GXNG
— G3 (@LiAngeloBall) February 21, 2019
Puma reportedly tried something similar before deleting its tweet.
? Since deleted … #Zion pic.twitter.com/DgL0IhLLhn
— AP Top 25 (@AP_Top25) February 21, 2019
LeBron James, though, was more concerned for Williamson’s well being.
Hope young fella is ok! Literally blew thru his ?. ??
— LeBron James (@KingJames) February 21, 2019