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In a game that was billed as one of the most important installments in the greatest rivalry arguably in all of sports, sadly, it lost much of its flair on the first possession of the game.

With the great No. 44 in attendance sitting just behind the home team’s bench at Cameron Indoor, the nation’s best collegiate basketball player, Zion Williamson, went down just 33 seconds into Duke vs North Carolina round one.

After tossing down 360 dunks with ease during warm-ups, in the midst of the games very-first possession, Williamson, while attempting to plant and change direction, ripped through his Nike PG 2.5.

 

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Here’s another look at the Nike PG 2.5 that @zionlw10 ripped through tonight ?

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And no, not just through the leather, but both the leather and the plastic of the outsole. It was unlike any sneaker blowout you’ve ever seen.

Following an evaluation — that also saw former President Brack Obama call out ” his shoe broke” — Zion didn’t return to the game as Duke officials pointed towards an apparent knee injury. A social media storm quickly ascended down on Nike and its PG 2.5. And while this is clearly a singular incident and not a repetitive issue, Nike quickly made a statement regarding the incident.

 

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?? Nike’s official statement on Zion’s shoe malfunction tonight.

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The severity of Williamson’s knee injury has not been detailed. There are no MRI machines at Cameroon Indoor so further evaluation would need to wait until likely today.

Nike, even after expressing concern over the incident, couldn’t prevent the tumble of their stock price this morning. At present time, the stock is down 1.6%.

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