Zion Williamson is a living, breathing, walking brand. Everything he touches at this point turns into money — for both himself and corporations that connect themselves to him.
Nike has been most connected to Zion because he plays for Duke and Duke has an exclusive apparel partnership with the shoe God. It’s been a mutually beneficial partnership for them in most cases, except, of course, when his Nike exploded against North Carolina on national TV. That wasn’t great.
Even weirder? No one can find said missing Nike, according to TMZ.
The tabloid reports that Zion’s left PG 2.5 PE sneaker was inspected by Nike reps after it exploded, but no one knows what happened to it since. Nike doesn’t know where it is. Duke doesn’t know where it is. Zion doesn’t know where it is.
Maybe Indiana Jones can help solve this mystery?
Of course, what makes it even more intriguing is the fact that Ken Goldin from Goldin Auctions valued the shoe at up to $250,000. That seems a bit high, but when it comes to Zion, everything he touches turns to gold, so perhaps some eccentric millionaire wants the shoe so bad they’re willing to drop a quarter mil on it.
Is this a conspiracy to destroy any evidence of the explosive shoe? It would seemingly be in Nike’s best interest to make that issue go away forever. And at this point, would a corporation nuking a shoe to save face be surprising to anyone? Not to this scribe.
Regardless, it seems the missing shoe might not be found again. I mean, if the three brands involved (Duke, Nike, Zion) all say it’s gone, it’s gone, hidden deep in some warehouse amongst other lost artifacts like the Ark of the Covenant.
