Nike has announced it is suspending its partnership with basketball superstar Kyrie Irving after eight years because the giant promoted an anti-Semitic film.
After NBA superstar Kyrie Irving apologized late Thursday for an anti-Semitic post, Nike has announced it is suspending its partnership with the player.
Nike’s full statement: “At Nike, we believe there is no place for hate speech and we condemn any form of antisemitism. As such, we have made the decision to pause our partnership with Kyrie Irving effective immediately and will not release the Kyrie 8 again.
We are deeply saddened and disappointed by the situation and the impact it is having on everyone.”
Before being terminated by Nike, Kyrie Irving was also punished by the Nets with 5 games without playing (without pay). Currently, things are not going in a good direction for the giant Irving, even his career can be shaken from here if he does not promptly and effectively overcome it.
According to US news sites, Kyrie Irving will lose about 1.3 million USD from his club because of his suspension, the number does not stop there but will increase by 11 million USD because Nike has stopped launching the 8th version of Kyrie which was scheduled to launch on November 11 this year.
Last season, Kyrie Irving was also banned by the Nets and the NBA for not getting the Covid 19 vaccine, even though New York’s leadership had issued a document requiring all players to get vaccinated. It is known that Kyrie Irving only played 19 out of 82 matches for the Nets, causing the club to suffer a significant loss in terms of both material and personnel.