This is probably the least of Ja Morant’s worries at this point, but it looks like the Grizzlies star’s Nike deal might actually be OK for now.
Morant’s latest Ja 1 in the “hunger” colorway still released on Nike’s SNKRS app nearly a week after the sneaker was taken off of Nike’s main app and website, according to reporting from the Memphis Commercial Appeal.
The news of the shoe’s disappearance came following Morant’s latest instance of brandishing a firearm on social media. The incident was followed up by obvious disappointment from NBA Commissioner Adam Silver, which also led to speculation about a potentially lengthy suspension for Morant.
Apparently, amid it all, Morant’s signature shoe just disappeared from Nike’s app. Here’s more from the Commercial Appeal‘s Damichael Cole.
“The Hunger Ja 1s have been expected to release May 25. The mismatch red and blue colorway was listed on both the Finish Line and Nike apps as recently as Tuesday.
The Ja 1s were still posted on both the SNKRS and Hibbett Sports apps, where they can be ordered through a raffle. Selected raffle winners would be able to purchase the sneakers.”
That was from just over a week ago. It left us all to wonder if the shoes would be removed from Nike’s SNKRS app, too, following the latest incident with Morant.
But on the sneaker’s Thursday release date, it still appears to be there.
To be clear, there is a difference between the Nike app and the SNKRS app. SNKRS is generally used for limited releases with smaller stock sizes while Nike drops tend to be released on a wider scale. That could’ve been the difference here, but it’s hard to say with everything going on surrounding Morant at this point.
We don’t know the details of what’s going on behind the scenes with Morant and his sneaker deal at Nike at this point, but it doesn’t appear that things are completely on ice at the very least.