Kyrie Irving’s tenuous future with the Nets actually appears stronger than his future with Nike.
The sneaker company’s relationship with the suspended star appears over.
“I would doubt that we would go back,” cofounder Phil Knight told CNBC in an interview that aired Thursday, “but I don’t know for sure.”
Nike announced last Friday that it has suspended its partnership with Irving immediately following the star sharing, through social media, a film that contains anti-Semitic tropes and initially refusing to state he holds no anti-Semitic beliefs.
Nike will no longer launch the Kyrie 8, which was set to be the latest version of Irving’s shoe.
Kyrie Irving has been suspended for at least five games by the Nets. Corey Sipkin“Kyrie stepped over the line,” Knight said in the “Squawk Box” interview. “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.”
Irving and Nike have partnered on a shoe deal since 2014 that reportedly pays the guard around $11 million per year.
The Nets suspended Irving on Nov. 3 for at least five games, which will cost Irving at least $2 million in NBA salary.
Nike founder Phil Knight at the Oregon-UCLA football game on Oct. 22, 2022. Getty ImagesAfter sharing the link to the film on social media, Irving repeatedly declined to apologize or denounce “specific hateful material in the film,” the Nets said. Only after the suspension did Irving apologize for causing pain to “Jewish families and communities.”
“He was dug in,” Knight said.





