Nike is a brand beloved by most people, but they have done some things in recent years that have led to serious controversy. In past years Nike has taken heat for using child labor to create the products they make, but recently there is a new topic in discussion that has made athletes of all levels upset. This topic being discussed is mistreatment of athletes signed to the brand.

Every brand has had their ups and downs with keeping athletes signed with their brand, with Adidas not being able to keep Kobe Bryant signed with their brand, and Reebok losing Shaq. These two brands had very good reasoning behind losing these signature athletes, but Nike seemingly has had no reason, leading to fans being angry.

The first athlete that Nike cut from their company was superstar Kyrie Irving. This was a very controversial decision made by the company. The reason they cut ties with Irving is because he posted a movie on Twitter that had some bad views on Jewish people in it, which he apologized for after taking heat for posting it. People like Jaylen Brown (plays for the Boston Celtics) have stated “I do not believe Kyrie Irving is antisemitic. And hopefully the NBA feels the same way,” and “He made a mistake. He posted something.”

Other people, who are not even fans of Irving have been angry at Nike for cutting him, questioning when Nike has ever had a moral compass to look up to.

More recently Nike has gotten into controversy over another signature line being cut off. This line was gotten rid of by Nike for seemingly no reason. It was rumored at the end of the 2023 basketball season that the PG line was not going to be produced anymore, which made fans mad. The PG line has been a staple of Nike signature shoes for the last six years and they just stopped making them for no reason, no contracts were cut, no controversial topics were brought up like with Kyrie Irving. The PG line being taken off of Nike was really the last straw for fans.