Kevin Durant Calls Out Nike For Leaving Him Out Of Olympics Ad

Kevin Durant is mad at Nike for leaving him out of the brand's Olympics commercial.

Kevin Durant is mad at Nike for its new Olympics commercial. / Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports

The Summer Olympics are always big business for the sneaker industry. It gives all of the major sportswear brands a chance to market their athletes and products to a global audience.

When it comes to storytelling, no brand does a better job than Nike. On Friday, Nike released a spellbinding ad campaign for the Paris Olympics titled "Winning Isn't For Everyone."

The 90-second video, narrated by Willem Dafoe, asks the rhetorical question, "Am I a bad person?" The traits of a competitive athlete are listed while showing clips of the brand's most popular basketball players, including LeBron James, Giannis Antetokounmpo, and Victor Wembanyama.

One noticeable Nike athlete missing from the new marketing campaign was Kevin Durant. While the 14x NBA All-Star has switched teams many times, he has remained loyal to Nike and Team USA.

Durant took major umbrage with the omission. Durant took shots at Nike on his Instagram Story, posting multiple pictures from his time on the international stage.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Nice Kicks (@nicekicks)

Durant asked, "@nike tell me, am I a bad person?????" He added, "Been with y'all every step of the way." Lastly, "Even during the quarantine Olympics @nike."

Then Durant's longtime agent, Rich Kleiman, shared an Instagram post commenting on Durant's partnership with Kith and USA Basketball, stating, "It is so nice to be seen."

It is safe to assume this is not a marketing stunt, and Durant is genuinely offended by being left out of Nike's marketing campaign. And who can blame him? Durant signed a lifetime deal with Nike in 2023 and is on his 17th signature sneaker with the brand.

Fans quickly reacted to the fallout online. Meanwhile, Under Armour continues to be a thorn in Nike's side on social media. The brand is commenting the popcorn bucket emoji on Instagram posts discussing Durant's beef with Nike.

Additionally, Under Armour posted a picture of Stephen Curry and De'Aaron Fox with the caption, "NOT bad people" online Friday. This is just Under Armour's latest attempt at trolling its competition on social media.

Durant and Nike will never break up, but there are definitely some hurt feelings behind the scenes. This will be one of the many compelling storylines to follow in the sneaker industry throughout the Paris Olympics.

Stay locked into Sports Illustrated for all your sneaker news from the sports world and beyond.

Further Reading: Devin Booker unveiled the Nike Book 1 "USA" before the Summer Olympics.