![Caitlin Clark]()
Someone's getting fired.
Nike has long been a global brand, attaching themselves to the biggest and brightest stars in all of sports. The apparel company prides themselves in inclusivity, and partners with men and women in a number of different leagues. Someone on the social media team at Nike must have forgotten about that.
Following the conclusion of the Western Conference Finals, where the Dallas Mavericks took down the Minnesota Timberwolves in five games, the NBA entered into a long lull before the league's championship culmination. On the other side of the bracket, the Boston Celtics swept the Indiana Pacers in the Eastern Conference Finals, and because of some rules that don't make that much sense, the league won't move up the NBA Finals to an earlier start date.
That means that there will be six days in between the conclusion of the conference finals and the beginning of the NBA Finals, which doesn't bode well for NBA fans (or degenerate gamblers) who love to watch basketball. It's probably not all that great for the momentum of NBA ratings as well, though the
postseason has been lackluster to say the least.
But it's not the NBA that's being criticized right now... it's Nike. That's because their social media account dedicated to basketball (@NikeBasketball) sent out this message after the NBA entered into its lull:
"And that's that... a week without hoops, shaking my head."
In a way, that's true. But Nike forgot that the WNBA season is in full swing, and it must have slipped their mind that the women's pro league is one that they're heavily invested in. Shortly after the post got sent out, Nike deleted the tweet (or whatever you want to call it), but as you likely know, the internet is forever.
Social media got screenshots:
https://twitter.com/HoopMixOnly/status/1796524869842325979
Not a great look for a company that is an equity investor in the WNBA ($75 million to be exact).
Those online quickly jumped on Nike for their post, even though it was quickly taken down once they realized their mistake. Still though, if you are one of the biggest sports brands in the world, you've got to have more awareness (or at least a second set of eyes looking at posts going out).
If they would have caught the tweet before it was sent out, they likely could have avoided this online bashing:
