At first glance, the photo released by Nike looks as casual as other Team USA pictures in the past. It's a picture that shows the current group of players to represent the country, donning the uniform and letting the world know, they are ready to defend their gold medal.

But looking at it again, it masked carefully the shoes of three players, each of whom do not have endorsement deals with Nike, the official supplier of the United States Olympic team. They are Harrison Barnes and Kyle Lowry (Adidas), and Klay Thompson (Anta),

The Vertical's Nick DePaula tweeted a photo of the 2008 team where they covered a player's shoe candidly, with Coach K's foot:

This is nothing new with the team and with it's official supplier. In the 1992 pictorial with the original Dream Team, (Reebok was the official apparel at that time), Michael Jordan was photographed at the podium with his Nike shoes covered by the American flag.

It has always been brilliantly done by whichever brand has the deal with Team USA.

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