Celtics’ Jaylen Brown Rips Nike After Comments On Kyrie Irving

Boston Celtics star forward Jaylen Brown ripped Nike alongside the company’s co-founder and chairman Phil Knight after the billionaire released comments regarding Kyrie Irving in wake of a controversial social media post from the Brooklyn Nets star guard.

“Kyrie stepped over the line,” Knight said, according to MarketWatch. “It’s kind of that simple. He made statements that we just can’t abide by and that’s why we ended the relationship. And I was fine with that.”

Brown, who spent two seasons as a teammate with Irving on the Celtics, had a short, yet bold reply.

“Since when did Nike care about ethics?” Brown tweeted on Thursday.

Knight’s comments came following Nike’s suspension of Irving’s previous partnership with the company. Both sides released seven lines of sneakers with the eighth formerly scheduled to be released in November.

“At Nike, we believe there is no place for hate speech and we condemn any form of antisemitism,” Nike said in a statement. “To that end, we’ve made our decision to suspend our relationship with Kyrie Irving effective immediately and will no longer launch the Kyrie 8. We are deeply saddened and disappointed by the situation and its impact on everyone.”

Despite apologizing, Irving was also dealt a hefty series of consequences from the Nets organization, expected to complete a checklist before being deemed fit to return to action.

In four games played without Irving, the Nets have gone 3-1 alongside newly promoted head coach Jacque Vaughn. Brooklyn will next take the floor for on Saturday against the Los Angeles Clippers. Tipoff from Crypto.com Arena is scheduled for 4 p.m. ET.