photo credit:  EQRoy

Nike’s stock my be going down after this one.

On Wednesday night, UNC and Duke battled it out as rival teams. The cheapest ticket in the house costed $2,990, telling you how huge of a night this was. Even Barack Obama was in the building sitting court side.

After just 36 seconds in the game, Duke freshman Zion Williamson was forced out of the game when his left Nike basketball shoe fell apart as he planted hard while dribbling near the free throw line on his opening play. Williamson’s foot came all the way through the large gap. He walked off the court with a small limp, the Blue Devils coach calling it a “mild knee sprain.”

During one of the biggest televised games, one of the biggest players being watched in college basketball right now was hurt while wearing Nike’s. Williamson is the ACC’s second-leading scorer at 22.4 points per game.

Duke is four years into a 12-year deal with Nike as the exclusive supplier of uniforms, shoes and apparel. Nike has had an exclusive deal with the university since 1992.

“We are obviously concerned and want to wish Zion a speedy recovery,” Nike said in a statement. “The quality and performance of our products are of utmost importance. While this is an isolated occurrence, we are working to identify the issue.”

Duke’s next game is Saturday against Syracuse.

Written by Clarke Jones

Source: ESPN