It looks like there may be some problems brewing between Kyrie Irving and Nike. Despite having one of the most popular basketball sneaker collections for the corporation, it appears as though the relationship has soured. After photos were leaked of the upcoming Kyrie 8 model, the Brooklyn Nets point guard commented on the pictures and didn't hold back.
"I have nothing to do with the design or marketing of the upcoming #Kyrie8, IMO these are trash," savagely said Kyrie, leaving a comment on a fan page dedicated to his sneakers. "I have Absolutely nothing to do with them! Nike plans to release it without my okay regardless of what I say, so I apologize in advance to all of my sneaker heads and true supporters of the #KAI11 brand."
Similarly, Vanessa Bryant recently called out Nike for producing unauthorized pairs of the "MAMBACITA" Kobe 6 Protro, claiming that she did not approve of their production or sale. "This is a shoe I worked on in honor of my daughter Gianna," she said in June of this year. "The MAMBACITA shoes are NOT approved for sale. I wanted it to be sold to honor my daughter with ALL of the proceeds benefitting our @mbamabacitasports foundation but I did not re-sign the Nike contract and decided not to sell these shoes. (The MAMBACITA shoes were not approved to be made in the first place)."
Sounds to me like Nike needs to be more transparent with their athletes and sponsors. Take a look at Kyrie's response below.