Kyrie Irving goes to extreme lengths to cover up Nike swoosh on his sneakers at NBA All-Star Game, two months after he was dumped by the sports giant amid anti-Semitism controversy
Kyrie Irving has continued to cover up the logo on his Nike shoes but the Dallas Mavericks star showed off a more creative approach than ever before during the NBA’s All-Star Game Sunday.
Since Nike terminated its partnership with Irving in December following controversy over posting a link to an Amazon documentary and succeeding comments, he has continued to wear his signature shoes, albeit with tape and messaging in place of the swoosh.
Perhaps given his presence in Utah, or his recent move to Texas, Irving had tasseled fringes on his signature shoe.
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.
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As is often written on his choice of on-court footwear, Irving had ‘Afrakan Revolution’ written next to a thinly drawn infinity logo — also on the sole of his tasseled pair.
Dallas Mavericks star Kyrie Irving came up with his most creative way yet to cover the swoosh
Irving wore a brighter pair of Nike’s during the first half, with a common message on the side
It has become something of a ritual for the former Brooklyn Nets playmaker since Nike ended his $11m a year partnership.
Irving signed with Nike in 2011 and had a signature line of shoes from 2014. After owning one of the most popular signature shoes in the NBA, he is now a sneaker free agent.
In his first game following the end of their multiyear partnership, Irving had ‘I AM FREE Thank you God … I AM,’ emblazoned on one side of the kicks. While the other side had a more simplistic and cheeky message; ‘logo here.’
Irving changed his shoes at half in a December 8 win over Charlotte, but strangely chose not to cover up the Nike logo on a ocean blue pair.
The Melbourne-born star received immense scrutiny for sharing the controversial Amazon documentary despite offering no opinion alongside the link, and was suspended eight games by the Nets organization.
Since debuting for the Mavericks on February 8 following a trade from Brooklyn, Irving has continued to hide the Nike logo.
Alongside the perpetual message of ‘Afrikan Liberation’, Irving is often seen with ‘Kai’ and ‘AII Even Tribe’ on his shoes, purportedly in reference to his Native American heritage.
Irving did some damage in his customized kicks, dropping 32 points in the All-Star Game for Team LeBron — the most of any Mavs player in franchise history.
Irving debuted for the Dallas Mavericks in his signature shoes but with a ‘Black Liberation’ note
He often has ‘AII Even Tribe’ on his sneakers purportedly a nod to his Native American heritage
