BOUNCED

Nike Officially Drops Kyrie Irving After Antisemitic Tweet

As news of the end of the $11-million partnership broke, Irving tweeted a GIF captioned, “There’s nothing more priceless than being free.”

Nike has officially dropped basketball star Kyrie Irving after he tweeted a link to an antisemitic conspiracy film then refused to apologize for weeks. The Oregon-based company confirmed the end of their $11-million-a-year deal to The Athletic. Nike had suspended Irving on Nov. 4 after the Brooklyn Nets player, who is also a noted vaccine skeptic, tweeted a link to the documentary Hebrews to Negroes: Wake Up Black America on Oct. 27. The film has been widely condemned for spreading anti-Jewish tropes. Irving doubled down on his post and dragged his feet in apologizing, eventually doing so in a since-deleted Instagram post on Nov. 4. He was suspended by his team, but resumed playing on Nov. 20. The 30-year-old is one of a handful of NBA players with a Nike sneaker line. On Monday, many of his shoes were up to 50 percent off on the company’s website, though it’s unclear if the markdowns are the result of lingering Black Friday deals. After news of the end of the partnership broke, Irving tweeted a GIF captioned, “There’s nothing more priceless than being free.”