Zion Williamson had the basketball world buzzing when his sneaker exploded on him during a game on Wednesday night, which actually led to a knee injury. The incident led to some heavy criticism against Nike, however, Charles Barkley of NBA on TNT came to the defense of the Beaverton brand during a broadcast last night.
"I hate the people who are trying to talk about Nike. Yes, I'm on Nike's payroll. We don't have no problems with our shoes. We have had the best shoes ever," said Barkley. "This was a fluke thing, or our shoes would do that all the time."
He sent some criticism in the direction of Zion, saying that wearing the same shoe for an entire season is not a smart idea. "You don't do that. I used to switch up every week. Michael Jordan played in new shoes every game," he continued. "I trust Nike's shoes."
Chuck also got mad at all of the people telling Williamson to sit down for the rest of the season. "When did we get to the point where all people care about is money? When did we get to the point where you got clowns on television saying, 'Oh, don't play.' That's what you do. That's what we do. We play basketball."
Zion is now day to day with a mild knee sprain.