Zion Williamson’s exploding Nike sneaker and knee injury was such a shock to everyone from basketball fans to Barack Obama, who was among the big names in attendance to watch Wednesday night’s Duke and North Carolina game.
But it’s not the first time a shoe has broken on an athlete in the middle of a game. It’s actually happened quite a bit in the NBA, where Williamson is likely headed after his freshman year at Duke (although will he play another minute for the Blue Devils after this?).
Here’s a look back at some of those moments:
2010: Matt Bonner’s kicks rip
2012: Blake Griffin’s shoe rips thanks to Marc Gasol
2014: There’s an exploding Nike problem with Manu Ginobili, Andrew Bogut and Tony Wroten
It started with Ginobili:
Then Bogut (at the 1:42 mark of this video):
And Wroten:
2015: Eliud Kipchoge loses his soles but wins the Berlin Marathon
There was, per Kipchoge, “lots of blood.”
2015: Richie Berrington — a Scottish bowler in the Cricket World Cup — has a shoe malfunction
2018: Frank Ragnow misses a snap because of an exploding cleat
The Lions lineman wasn’t happy about it:
(Thanks to Complex and The Big Lead for the assistance.)
