AP Photo/Gerry Broome
Puma was a bit too eager to pull off a viral tweet after Zion Williamson's injury.
- Duke superstar Zion Williamson was forced to leave Wednesday night's game after his shoe blew out in the opening seconds.
- Williamson was wearing Nikes at the time, prompting Puma to send out a snarky tweet that immediately earned scorn from others online.
- Puma later deleted the tweet in question.
On Wednesday night, Duke superstar Zion Williamson was forced to leave the Blue Devils game against the North Carolina Tar Heels when his shoe gave out just 33 seconds after tip-off.
It was a stunning moment, leaving the crowd ready to take in the greatest rivalry in college basketball to sit and wait as the Blue Devils top player left the court.
Read more: Zion Williamson's shoe exploded and he injured a knee in first minute against North Carolina
Williamson was wearing Nike shoes, prompting Puma, a new high-level competitor in the basketball shoe market, to tweet about the moment.
"Wouldn't have happened in Pumas" the brand tweeted, and later deleted.
Almost immediately, the tweet came under fire from other Twitter users, who called out the brand for attempting to take advantage of a young player's injury.
With Williamson's status as the projected top overall pick in the 2019 NBA Draft now in jeopardy, the jokes could clearly wait.
Additionally, some Twitter users noted the top promoted tweet above Zion's injury came from Adidas, promoting the new Ultraboost 19, leading to speculation that the Nike-competitor had made a quick investment to take advantage of the moment.
That said, the Ultraboost 19 was set to debut on Thursday for some time, so it's possible that the placement of the promoted tweets was a coincidence.
Adidas did not immediately respond to our request for comment.
It's not surprising that competing brands would attempt to take advantage of the bizarre moment - Nike almost immediately came under fire when the injury took place.
Read more: Nike is facing backlash after Zion Williamson's shoe exploded
That said, when attempting to make a joke that involves the well-being and future monetary prospects of a teenager from a corporate Twitter account, it's best to be extremely careful in your framing.
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