Jaylen Brown is one of the most vocal players in the NBA when it comes to his fellow competitors. He is someone who stands up against injustice, and recently, he has been defending Kyrie Irving. Irving has faced a whole slew of punishments over his recent controversy. One such punishment has been the termination of his Nike deal.
Phil Knight Speaks
In fact, Nike co-founder Phil Knight made some interesting comments in a recent interview. Knight claimed that the relationship with Kyrie is over and that it's unlikely they'll ever go back. Simply put, Irving has officially lost his sneaker deal.
“Kyrie stepped over the line,” Knight said. “It’s kind of that simple. He made some statements that we just can’t abide by and that’s why we ended the relationship. And I was fine with that.
“We look at who we sign and how much we pay and we look not only at how good the athlete is but what his or her character are. It’s not an exact science, but it’s a process that we go through with a lot of intensity and with a lot of people sticking their hand in it.”
Jaylen Brown Responds
Circling back to Jaylen Brown, he took issue with Nike's stance on the matter. As you can see in the tweet below, Brown simply wrote "since when did Nike care about ethics?" Of course, this is a reference to the brand's manufacturing practices, in which sweatshops are used to make their sneakers.
Brown makes a solid point, although we doubt that Nike actually cares. They have made their decision, and it is going to stand, presumably, for a very long time.
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[Via]