TMZ Staff
Kyrie Irving gave Nike the middle finger with a message on his signature shoes on Wednesday night…covering the swoosh logo and etching “I am Free Thank You God I am” on a piece of tape after his split from the sneaker giant.
Irving hit the pitch at Barclays Center for the first time since becoming an agent without shoes on Monday… and although he decided to continue carrying his own kicks, he made sure to distance himself with his former partner.
Irving rocked the Nike Kyrie 3 PE in the “Raygun” colorway for the game against the Charlotte Hornets…but if you look closely, the side logo is covered in black tape.
Kyrie switched kicks mid-game – not uncommon for NBA players – and the second pair also had the Swoosh scribbled on with a black marker.
You will remember… the brand suspended his relationship with Kyrie after he tweeted a link to a film with anti-Semitic content… saying that there was no place for hate speech at Nike.
Irving, however, continued to don Nike sneakers during games … although it’s unclear if he was contractually obligated to do so or if the decision was a personal choice.
Immediately after the news broke that the The Kyrie era was over at Nikethe 30-year-old tweeted a GIF saying, “There’s nothing more priceless than being free.”
Kyrie joined the Nike family in 2011, releasing his first shoe in 2014, but now the NBA superstar is a free agent in the sneaker game…and he clearly seems happy about it.