Kyrie Irving has continued to creatively cover up the Nike logo on his shoes as the Dallas Mavericks star donned tassels on his sneakers during the NBA’s All-Star Game in Salt Lake City on Sunday.
Back in November, Irving was suspended by his former team, the Brooklyn Nets, for five games without pay on November 3 after he failed to apologise for sharing a link to an anti-semitic film on social media. The seven-time All-Star refused to ‘unequivocally say he has no antisemitic views’ despite having numerous opportunities to do so.
Shortly afterwards in December, Nike announced the company had ‘suspended’ its relationship with Irving as they cancelled plans to release his next signature shoe. Irving signed with Nike back in 2011 as he became the first overall pick in the NBA Draft and he has had a signature line of shoes since 2014 - with his annual endorsement deal believed to be worth at least $11m.
Despite the voided deal, Irving has continued to wear his shoes but with tape and messages replacing the iconic swoosh. Perhaps given the game was in Utah, Irving wore tasseled fringes on his signature shoe and they clearly did the job as he scored 32 points for Team LeBron - the most of any Mavericks player in franchise history.
During the first half, Irving wore a different pair and instead went with the more subtle design of tape, with a written message emblazoning it. The 30-year-old had 'Afrakan Revolution' emblazoned on his show next to a thinly drawn infinity logo, which was also on the sole of his tasseled pair.
On Monday, Irving went to social media to post a collection of his unique designs with the caption: “Thank you God/ancestors for all of our protection. I love creating moments with my Art for MY TRIBES around the world. I am Hela.”
After owning one of the most popular signature shoes in the NBA, Irving - who won the NBA championship with LeBron James on the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2016 - is now a sneaker free agent.
In his first game following the news his Nike deal had been scrapped, Irving had: ‘I AM FREE Thank you God … I AM’ written on one side of his shoes. The other side had a more simplistic and cheeky message: ‘Logo here’.
Irving sent shockwaves through the NBA when he requested a trade after failing to agree a contract extension with the Nets. Earlier this month, the eight-time NBA All-star dropped the bombshell as he wanted to leave the Nets before the trade deadline on February 9 - the following day.
Nets owner Joe Tsai reportedly preferred not to work with the Lakers on a move as that was Irving’s preference. The Lakers allegedly offered former MVP Russell Westbrook as well as a first round pick for Irving, while the Mavericks ended up sending Spencer Dinwiddie, Dorian Finney-Smith, a 2029 first-round pick and two second-round picks to Brooklyn.
