I wouldn’t really say I’m a fan of Kyrie Irving, but I would say I empathize with him. I know all these people seem to hate him and everyone likes to dismiss him for all of these crazy things he’s said or done or blah blah blah, but in reality I just see a dude on a high-pressure, high-profile search for himself. No, I don’t agree with a lot of what he says, but that doesn’t mean that I don’t think he doesn’t have the right to say it.
The Nike thing, IMO, was messed up. I thought dude wanted out of Nike so it seemed logical, but when I talked to a friend at Nike, it was quite the opposite. It really just sounded like he wanted to be heard (at Nike), and Nike being Nike, they don’t seem all that keen on listening to anyone that says anything that could possibly go against their agenda.
Anyway, seeing that news that he signed on with Anta…or….might have signed on…I like it. I know most people wouldn’t know Anta from a whole in the wall, but obviously Klay has had a good run with them (as have a few others). They can take risks that the majors won’t. And I like that type of freedom, at least in theory.
When I worked on Wall Street from 2004-2010, I went through an identity struggle, too, which ultimately ended with me leaving the East Coast altogether. I kinda held a laptop hostage (I knew they were going to try to screw me out of my restricted stock unit shares), but it was all an attempt to exert my own self-autonomy and independence, which I think I did. I wanted to be heard, and when I wasn’t, I opted for freedom. Which…I think…is what Kyrie was also trying to do.
As much as I love Nike, I also hate Nike. I hate the fact that they can just make or break someone because they want to or because their customers ‘demand’ it. Like the Kawhi Leonard logo thing (since dude left Nike/JB he can’t even use his OWN logo - the one that HE designed), it’s just this entity that can steamroll through just about anything they want without any real repercussions…
Anyway, I hope that Kyrie finds some good partners at Anta…even though I’m 98% positive I won’t care for the shoes….but even if I disagree with him I’ll still be pulling for him.