Another pair of Nike sneakers broke in the middle of a high-stakes basketball game.
Milwaukee Bucks’ Wesley Matthews was running down the court yesterday against the Golden State Warriors when he tried to stop his momentum and his foot popped out of the side of his Nike Zoom Freak 1s. The shoe’s insole also went flying onto the hardwood.
Zoom Freak 1 comes from Matthews’ teammate Giannis Antetokounmpo, who collaborated with the brand in July 2019 for his first signature shoe. The style retails for $130 at Nike.com and features added responsive cushioning, forefoot lockdown and superior traction.
NBA on ESPN shared a clip of the series when the shoe fell apart, jokingly writing it: “I think [Antetokounmpo] probably owes Wes a new pair of Freaks after this.”
After the play, Matthews struggled to walk back to the bench with his shoe halfway around his ankle. Fortunately, the athlete didn’t seem injured and the equipment manager swiftly brought out an extra pair.
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Basketball fans may be having a bit of deja vu as the occurrence parallels a similar Nike shoe blowout during a February 2019 game between Duke and the University of North Carolina. Zion Williamson ripped right through the midsole of his Nike PG 2.5 just 33 seconds into the game, leaving the future first-round NBA draft pick out for the remainder of the game.
The blowout caused quite a stir on social media, with everyone tweeting about Williamson including high-caliber NBA players like LeBron James, Donovan Mitchell, and even former President Barack Obama, who was in attendance of the game.
Twitter user Rohan Prakash called Matthews’ Nike sneaker mishap “the Zion part 2.”
