Knicks fans were less than impressed when they noticed a Nike ad featuring newly-crowned NBA champ Jayson Tatum outside of Madison Square Garden.
An iconic billboard near the Knicks’ home arena, which has been occupied by the athletic apparel behemoth for several years, showed the Celtics star on the court following the team’s historic victory Monday night.
‘Don’t stop disbelieving,’ the image read, alongside the Air Jordan logo.
Fans were quick to slam the placement of the billboard in the heart of midtown Manhattan.
‘You think you’ll ever see a billboard in Boston of a NY’s sports team if and when they win a championship? yeah me neither,’ one person wrote on X.
Nike is running a Jayson Tatum ad outside of the Knicks’ home, Madison Square Garden
‘Don’t stop disbelieving,’ the image read, alongside the star Boston Celtics player
‘Everyone… Go egg it now challenge!’ another joked.
‘I saw this garbage last night. What an embarrassment,’ a third person chimed in, while another echoed the sentiment, ‘Outside of MSG is crazy.’
Others however, noted the billboard has long been occupied by Nike and clearly wasn’t a swipe at the city’s NBA team.
‘Jordan brand paid for it. Don’t be mad at anyone but them…so yea, don’t buy any Jordans for the next six months or something? I donno what to tell ya,’ one fan wrote.
‘You think you’ll ever see a billboard in Boston of a NY’s sports team,’ one Knicks fan wrote
Other New York supporters labelled the billboard an ’embarrassment’ and ‘garbage’
Another added, ‘No one in the comments understands how advertising works.’
Tatum has already hit back at haters – who roasted him for his ‘corny’ celebrations – after leading the Celtics to a historic 18th NBA title.
‘What they gone say now,’ he wrote on social media.
However, many were quick to criticize the 26-year-old for seemingly copying others’ celebrations.
One pointed out that Tatum’s message on X was previously posted by Stephen Curry in 2022, after the Warriors beat the Celtics in the NBA Finals.
‘Stealing Steph’s quote [heartbreak emoji] corny,’ one fan said.
Tatum also repeated a line from Kanye West’s infamous 2005 Grammys speech at the Celtics’ after party Monday night.
‘Everybody was wondering what would happen if we didn’t win. I guess we’ll never know,’ he said.
Tatum led the team’s post-game celebrations after securing an historic 18th NBA title
