Zion Williamson's injury from rare shoe failure puts spotlight on Nike.
Thirty-four seconds into Wednesday night's 88-72 home loss to North Carolina, Dukesuperstar freshman Zion Williamson suffered what Blue Devils coach Mike Krzyzewski is calling a mild knee sprain.
In a scary moment for Williamson and a discomfiting one for Nike, whose Paul George model burst under the pressure of Williamson's near-285-pound frame - the freshman phenom's left foot popped free after the entire side panel of his shoe ripped apart.
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The shoe – a Nike PG 2.5 PE – became the focus after Williamson left the game early with a knee injury. |
“For a shoe to fall apart – completely fall apart – came in one of the most highly anticipated games in a long time,” legendary sports executive Sonny Vaccaro told USA TODAY Sports. “This magnifies it. There was no NBA game going on and Zion had as much hype as anyone in a while. Tickets were going for thousands of dollars. The moon and the stars aligned and everyone in the world saw it.”
"We're very concerned about Zion," Krzyzewski said after the game. "We will know about length of time tomorrow. It's stable. Obviously it has an impact. You lose the National Player of the Year on the first play."
“We are obviously concerned and want to wish Zion a speedy recovery," Nike said in a statement (per Bleacher Report). "The quality and performance of our products are of utmost importance. While this is an isolated occurrence, we are working to identify the issue.
” If Williamson is healthy enough to return to the college basketball court and jump straight, we must respect this choice. And if I do not come back? This is also good. The NCAA system, with all its drawbacks, has helped transform a wonderful display called Williamson into the Duke attraction that must be seen, which is ZION. He knows that. As he knows, if he is in good health, he will have this chance only in college experience and NCAA tournament once. Going away is a kind of dilemma that none of us can understand, so we have to respect whatever decision we make when we do so.
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