In the NBA sneaker wars, Nike continues their dominance with some sly coverups when it comes to the USA Basketball Men’s National Team. The swoosh pays a premium for the right to sponsor the team, often filled with the league’s most premier players. Coincidentally, those same players are often Nike flag bearers. Each year there are outliers, of course, and those players seem to see their non-Nike sneakers somehow covered up in promotional photos.
It’s pretty hilarious, unless you’re the sneaker brand competition, and it has finally carried over to the digital world. 2K Sports released a similar photo as you can see above. Here are the two photos in question, so you can compare.
Amazing. Nike did it again. Blocked out Barnes & Lowry's adidas and Klay's Antas in the Team USA photo: pic.twitter.com/EMIS6T3i7g
— Nick DePaula (@NickDePaula) July 18, 2016
https://twitter.com/NBA2K/status/759505138973155328
The people at 2K simply copied the same shot that so many people online had fun with once they noticed what had been done. In that photo, Klay Thompson’s ANTAs and Kyle Lowry and Harrison Barnes’ adidas kicks are obscured by their angle and position in the photo.
If you squint, you can kind of see the makings of Barnes’ adidas sneakers, but beyond that it’s all digital Nike Swooshes and Jordan Jumpman logos.
NBA 2K17 can be preordered here, before it releases in September.
