Nike’s split with Kyrie Irving has turned into one of those decisions that looks a lot bigger in hindsight.
The Dallas Mavericks guard, now widely respected around the league, was once one of the most controversial figures in basketball. That shifted hard in 2022, when Irving drew heavy backlash for posting a link to a film that was criticized for promoting antisemitic tropes. One of the immediate fallout moments was Nike severing ties with him.
The financial side of that breakup is now getting a fresh look. Irving said in 2023 that his signature shoes had brought Nike $2.6 billion in revenue over seven years, and The Athletic’s Christian Clark reported that peak annual revenue reached nearly $375 million.
“In his eight years as a Nike signature athlete, Irving’s shoes were a massive commercial success,” Clark wrote. “At the height of his popularity, his signature line generated close to $375 million in annual revenue. But the lucrative relationship between the two sides began showing signs of fraying in July 2021 when Irving called the ‘Kyrie 8’model ‘trash’ and said that Nike was releasing the sneaker without his approval.”
Irving had signed with Nike in 2011, and his first signature shoe, the “Nike Kyrie 1,” arrived in 2014. The “Nike Kyrie 8” was set for 2022, but it never made it to market after the controversy erupted.
In October 2022, Irving was with the Brooklyn Nets when he posted a link on X to “Hebrews to Negroes: Wake Up Black America.” The film, based on a book with the same title, claims Black Americans were the true descendants of the biblical Israelites. It has also been described as containing antisemitic tropes and Holocaust denial.
The reaction was immediate and harsh. Irving deleted the post, but at first he would not apologize. The Nets suspended him in November, and he later issued an apology for the post.
Nike didn’t wait around for the situation to cool off. The company suspended its relationship with Irving and said it would not release the eighth signature shoe.
Phil Knight, Nike’s co-founder, also said Irving crossed a line and made statements they could not accept. By December, the split was official: Irving was no longer a Nike athlete.
That turned out to be a major opening for Anta. Irving signed a five-year deal with the Chinese sportswear brand in July 2023 and was named Chief Creative Officer as well. The partnership has already paid off for both sides.
Anta posted record profits in its first year with Irving. He has since received three signature shoes from the brand, and the money has reportedly followed. Clark wrote that, according to industry sources who spoke on condition of anonymity to protect relationships in the industry, Irving gets a double-digit percentage of sales on his signature line - more than twice the 5 percent rate signature athletes often receive.
Maurice Robertson, Anta’s general manager in North America, said sales of Irving’s signature line are up 20 percent year over year. He also pointed to the opportunities that come with Irving’s return to the court.
That return finally came Sunday, when Irving played in the Mavericks’ 132-115 preseason win over the Houston Rockets in Macau. He had been sidelined after tearing his ACL in March 2025, missing the rest of the 2024-25 season and the entire 2025-26 campaign.
Against Houston, Irving scored 17 points on 6-for-13 shooting, added two rebounds and three assists, and looked strong in his first game back. The expectation now is that he’s positioned for a big 2026-27 season.
There are still two years left on Irving’s Anta deal. Clark reported that an extension has been discussed, though nothing is done yet. Even so, the relationship is described as a happy one, and a new agreement seems likely to come together eventually.
For Nike, the breakup has become Anta’s gain. And in the bigger picture, it comes as the sportswear giant continues to struggle, with its stock still tumbling.
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