It appears that Nike, the official sponsor of the U.S. Olympic team, is going out of it’s way to obscure any ties that some Team USA athletes have with rival companies.
Today, The Vertical’s Nick DePaula pointed out how Nike was able block out the shoes of non-Nike athletes Harrison Barnes, Kyle Lowry, and Klay Thompson from the official Team USA photo.
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
This isn’t the first time Nike has done this. Back in 2008, Nike was also able to block Dwight Howard’s Adidas shoes from the team photo.
A USA tradition since 2008, when players lined up in reverse order so Coach K himself could block Dwight's adidas: pic.twitter.com/VKIHe1yH12
— Nick DePaula (@NickDePaula) July 18, 2016
Gotta respect Nike’s cutthroat tactics.