The main takeaway from a sneaker, of all things, putting a damper on a high-profile rivalry matchup featuring multiple diaper dandies should be that the reward of transcendent talents playing college sports matches the risk about as well as polka dots match a walking boot. Simply put, examples of the NCAA monetizing the efforts of kids who are amateur in reimbursement only don't get more glaring and grotesque than thousands upon thousands of people paying thousands upon thousands of dollars and watching one kid meet his basketball mortality while playing pro bono. For Zion Williamson's knee sprain to resonate as anything other than proof that a future #1 overall pick in the NBA Draft doesn't need to be doing this shit for free is disingenuous at best and ignorant at worst. So let's focus on that organizational exploitation by a billion dollar business as opposed to another billion dollar business not yet understanding how to properly reinforce the footwear of someone who makes the Incredible Hulk seem like ordinary clientele by comparison...
I understand that their product directly causing an injury by damn near detonating off such a profitable foot after only 36 seconds on such a massive stage is a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad look for Nike. Still, seems a bit convenient to only now shame Zion Williamson's surroundings for being structurally inferior as opposed to marveling at him proving too big, too fast, and too strong for them. As I recall, no one was questioning the durability of Spalding basketballs when the player in question almost poked one out to pasture...
When he inevitably rips off a rim in shattering a backboard are we going to wait to see if he gets any glass in his eye before we decide whether it's a credit to the unprecedented power of a 285 pound kid who put on 100 pounds of pure muscle in two years without sacrificing any agility or an indictment of the hoop manufacturer?
We're talking about someone who is, quite literally, a freak of nature. He does things that are entirely unfitting of his size. As a result, sneakers made to endure the athleticism of someone his size might be unfitting of the previously impossible things he is able to do in them. Hopefully Nike will learn from their mistake in the future. However, with that mistake being a failure in foresight to fortify the feet of someone whose power and propulsion is the closest a (super)human could possibly come to a space shuttle launch, it should be somewhat understandable. I've never seen the following happen to a shoe just like I've never seen anyone like the person who did it to said shoe. I refuse to believe that's a coincidence.
Therefore, if absolutely nothing else, we should certainly be more sympathetic to Nike's plight of appropriately outfitting a genetic anomaly than we are to the NCAA's plight of not being able to further milk their biggest cash cow.
1 Comment
6/8/2022 09:32:07 pm
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