Nike stumbles into social media storm after basketball star's shoe splits
Sneaker split in half less than a minute into a highly anticipated game between Duke University and North Carolina, shocking Barack Obama and top sports people
New York — A Nike sneaker worn by a college basketball superstar split in half less than a minute into a highly anticipated game between Duke University and North Carolina, prompting an outcry on social media as the company sought to figure out what caused the problem. Zion Williamson, a 2m freshman forward for the Duke Blue Devils who is anticipated to be the top 2019 NBA Draft pick, suffered a mild sprain to his right knee because of the incident on Wednesday night, said his coach Mike Krzyzewski. The official Duke Basketball Twitter handle (@DukeMBB) tweeted on Thursday evening that Zion was “progressing as expected, and his status is day-to-day”.
A close-up video replay showed Williamson slipping and crumpling to the ground, clutching his knee in pain. His left shoe is seen split in half, with part of the sole ripped off the base of the sneaker. Williamson did not return to play in the match-up, which ended with No1-ranked Duke losing 72-88 to the No8-ranked Tar Heels team...
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