Nike is playing damage control after the incident that happened with Duke star Zion Williamson. While playing the game on Wednesday evening, Williamson tore his sneaker. Since the accident, Nike stock has gone down more than 1% on Thursday. Nike has built its reputation around creating premier shoes and clothes for athletes but after the incident, you can only imagine what is going to happen to Nike. Within the first minute of Duke’s blockbuster matchup against rival North Carolina on Wednesday, one of Williamson’s Nike PG 2.5 shoes split apart. Williamson then left the game with a knee injury. Former President Barack Obama was sitting courtside, and clips of Duke Williamson breaking his shoe and Obama pointing to it immediately went viral. Nike, which supplies Duke’s basketball team with uniforms, shoes, and gear, had something to say about the situation. “ The quality and performance of our products are of utmost importance,” the company said. “While this is an isolated occurrence, we are working to identify the issue.”

Nike also reduced its dependence on high-top basketball sneakers for growth in more recent years. It has focused on lightweight running and wear-to-work shoes. Nike’s basketball sneaker sales fell last year as consumers move away from performance sneakers to more casual and comfortable shoes. “Basketball shoes are not in fashion,” Powell said. “Athleisure footwear is in style.” Patrick Rishe, the sports business director at Washington University in St. Louis, called Williamson’s sneaker to break a freak accident. “Nike is a massive brand and has tremendous power,” he said. “If they’re smart, they’ll reach out to Zion and have him wear their shoes again.” After this incident, Nike has faced an extreme downfall. This is another controversy for Nike after the Colin Kaepernick event; wherein thousands upon thousands of people boycotted the brand. The brand is facing many problems this year.