Nike has been all over the news recently for its ad campaign involving Colin Kaepernick. Because of the polarizing nature of Kaepernick's stance, conservative consumers have been destroying their Nike gear en masse, abandoning the company for endorsing someone that they view as disgracing the country.
Houston Rockets All-Star guard James Harden is known for altering his Nike gear as well, either hiding the logo or completely cutting off the iconic check. However, Harden's reasons for not repping Nike are very different than the crowd that is now burning their Nike's in their backyard.
As emphasized by Matt Young of the Houston Chronicle, The Beard has been hiding the Nike brand on his clothing since 2017, ever since he signed a massive $200 million deal with Adidas, one of Nike's biggest competitors. It's not a good look to get that much money and then wear the competitors' clothing, especially one that's as prominent as Nike.
Ever since Nike signed a deal to be the official supplier of the NBA, all jerseys have prominently displayed the swoosh, and there is little Harden or other athletes can do about that. But Harden can still do everything in his power to hide the mark on his other clothing.
Harden is not the only athlete that has to mask the Nike brand. Steph Curry, who famously decided to sign with Under Armor over the bigger brands, hides the sock logo by wearing big ankle braces.
While the Kaepernick ad runs, people will certainly continue to destroy perfectly good Nike items. Harden will do so too during the regular season, albeit for nonpolitical reasons.