Following his suspension in the beginning of November, the athlete was on thin ice with the iconic sneaker brand.
Even before Nike made the cut permanently, cofounder and chairman Phil Knight said on a Zoom call with CNBC that the partnership was “likely over.” After posting a link to an antisemitic movie on his Instagram story, the release of the Irving 8 was cancelled and the partnership “suspended.” Now, the tie between the Nets player and the legendary company is gone.
In response, Irving posted a gif on Twitter saying “There is nothing more priceless than being free.” Irving seems to be following the Kanye West train of thought after his contracts with Adidas and Balenciaga were dropped. West said that it was “freeing” to be removed from the Balenciaga website, and claimed that he was trying to get out of his Adidas partnership anyway.
