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Kyrie Irving loses Nike as a sponsor
Photo: Julia Nikhinson/AP
The controversial basketball star Kyrie Irving has lost his multi-million dollar sponsorship contract with the sporting goods multinational Nike.
As the Oregon company confirmed to the AFP news agency, the recently suspended advertising relationship with the 30-year-old professional from the NBA club Brooklyn Nets has officially ended.
Irving is said to have received more than eleven million dollars a year from Nike, his shoe models are among the top sellers in the basketball sector.
In October, the NBA star shared a link to a film with anti-Semitic content on social media.
At first he didn't apologize.
"I will not take back anything I believe in," he said at a press conference.
He would only get stronger, because he was not alone: "I have a whole army around me." Shortly thereafter, Irving broke off the press conference.
The Brooklyn Nets then temporarily suspended Irving.
Only after fulfilling a detailed catalog of measures and paying a fine was Irving allowed to appear again in the NBA.
In response to the events, Nike suspended the contract with the seven-time Allstar.
It's not Irving's first scandal
The builder has been a scandal professional and conspiracy theorist for years.
He once claimed that the earth is flat.
He later apologized for it.
After the start of the corona pandemic, Irving attracted attention several times with crude conspiracy theories and did not get vaccinated either.
He therefore missed a large part of the past NBA season because unvaccinated players were not allowed to play in many halls.
That rule was dropped this season and Irving was allowed to play regularly again.
With his sponsors, Irving got away with his scandals for a long time.
That all changed after the anti-Semitism scandal.
kjo/dpa
