Did Zion Williamson have a crack at Nike on Instagram?

Sports nuffies went nuts over this. Photo / Instagram

Nike, pick up the phone. It looks like Zion Williamson is on the other end.

The 18-year-old basketball star's shoe fiasco sparked a nightmare for the sportswear giant and it appears to only get worse by the day.

Williamson's Nike sneaker exploded less than a minute into Duke's blockbuster college basketball clash against the University of North Carolina (UNC), forcing the star to fall in a heap. He clutched his leg after hitting the floor and hobbled off to the locker room, forced to miss the rest of the game with a knee injury.

The bizarre event got worse for Nike as its stock dropped 1.3 per cent, or more than $1 billion, in the fallout.

Nike's chances of signing Williamson, the man almost certain to be this year's No. 1 NBA draft pick, were also damaged — and competitors like Sketchers were quick to weigh into the social media storm with jabs at the iconic company.

It's fair to say Nike is going through a rough couple of weeks. And now Williamson himself has brought the controversy back into the mix with a recent Instagram live video — even if he didn't mean to.

Some viewers suggested Williamson, who was wearing a full Adidas tracksuit in the live stream, was sending a clear message to the brand responsible for his match-ending injury.

Williamson, who currently plays in Nike gear for Duke but used to wear Adidas in high school games, will be a hot product for either sportswear company with fans tipping him to land one of the most lucrative shoe contracts for a rookie in history.

No one can sponsor him yet but Williamson's signature will be hghly sought after when he becomes eligible to attract endorsements and enters the NBA.

What do you call Zion Williamson Instagramming live in an outfit with 12 adidas logos? Negotiations. pic.twitter.com/W5Ps76AUq5

— Darren Rovell (@darrenrovell) March 6, 2019

Zion is going to squeeze Nike for every penny they are worth. https://t.co/IOlq4NaBLs

— Michael Bohlin (@MBohlinCBS) March 7, 2019

ESPN's Jay Williams said the teen beast is in line for an $AUD1.4 million shoe deal when he graduates to the NBA — and he might be driving up that price by starting a bidding war after showing his 2.6 million Instagram followers a swag of Adidas logos.

Whenever he's on duty for Duke Williamson always obliges by wearing the college's Nike gear — as shown by an Instagram post later today after his video was streamed — but he's been known to get around in Adidas clothes away from the court.

Both companies will be desperate to add Williamson to their books but it looks like they'll have a fight on their hands to land him.

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