Sometimes it hurts to not be affiliated with Nike

Martavious Newby is one of the better young prospects in the city of Memphis.

He had an interesting quote in Monday's newspaper about Memphis' Elite Camp.

"I was about to go to Tennessee's camp up there, but I changed my mind," Newby told The Commercial Appeal . "I mean, I like Tennessee, but I had to come over here and see how it is, because I like Memphis. That's where I might be going. So I told my high school coach I changed my mind."

Changed his mind?

"I love him to death," Newby's AAU coach, Keith Easterwood, told CBSSports.com on Monday. "But he never had a mind to change."

Before you can understand this story -- and, specifically, how Memphis ended up with most of the top local players on campus last Friday and Saturday -- you need to understand the back story, that Easterwood coaches the best Class of 2011 and 2012 prospects in the area. You also need to know that his team is funded by Nike. And that Memphis is a "Nike" school. And that Tennessee is an "Adidas" school. And that both schools held Elite Camps this past weekend.

OK, you got all that?

Good.

Now I'll let Easterwood tell the story.

"I polled my kids after a game," Easterwood said. "I asked 12 kids: 'Do you want to go to the Memphis Elite Camp or the Tennessee Elite Camp?' ... And all of them, to a man, said they wanted to go to Knoxville. Well, that was good for me. So we did what we had to do to get prepared to get them up there, talked to parents, one thing and another."

And then ...

"I got some calls, some were shoe-affiliated," Easterwood said. "Nike, Adidas, you can connect the dots. ... Memphis is Nike. I'm with a Nike AAU program. And it was expressed to me that it would be in my best interests to stay home and not make the trip to Knoxville, which is what we ultimately did."

Easterwood declined to name the person who called him, but promised it was a "person of influence" with Nike ties. He said he was also told that one of his players, Andre Hollins, might not get an invitation to this week's prestigious Nike Hoop Jamboree in St. Louis if he attended UT's Elite Camp instead of Memphis' Elite Camp.

"The kids didn't know the behind-the-scenes stuff," Easterwood said. "But I had to let [Hollins'] parents know what was at stake if they made that trip."

Once Easterwood told them, they didn't make that trip.

And Hollins' invitation to the Nike Hoop Jamboree subsequently arrived, as expected.

I think that Nike has cleaned up a lot of what they do... not that I'm pro-Nike in any way. I think one of the craziest things about the Nike labor practices is just how badly the citizens of those countries have it. The jobs that we all consider inhumane and unfair are the DREAM job for a lot of those people. There just isn't a better way to make money in some places. 18 hours/day? We find that abusive. They're eyes are lighting up because they can make $1 and actually get work for 3/4 of the day. In rural China, a beer is $.25! imagine that...
But back to basketball, this just shows how much power corporations have. They are the evolution of man and nobody realizes it yet... and we all thought we'd evolve into robots.
LeBron has been a corporate product since probably 8th grade, nothing against LeBron. I hate that the sponsorship of the AAU teams is good for the players so that they can get free clothes, more exposure, etc. but then the corporation uses they're mini-investment in the player to make money for universities, shoes sales, etc. good play on their part, but that's kind of what's wrong with America.
College programs shouldn't be Adidas or Nike... I don't want those companies deciding which players will go to which schools, that's what ADs and coaches are for.

JesseJames Reputation: 93 Level: All-Star Since: Jul 6, 2008	Posted on: June 8, 2009 4:38 pm Score: 126 Participate in the Lives of Asia's Youth This is such an evil system. I despise Nike especially, and we must stand up against their evilness. Why arent people outraged? Why dont athletes ever stand up to their evil ways instead of taking money and looking the other way? Shouldnt just one athlete go against them? Im so sick of people loving a slave-owning company. NBA players might as well support an 18th century plantation and support the return of chattel slavery. How is supporting slavery in China different than supporting it in the Confederate States of America? [ Reply to Comment ]
Suka-Butta Reputation: 79 Level: Pro Since: Mar 2, 2009	Posted on: June 8, 2009 4:40 pm Score: 53 Sometimes it hurts to not be affiliated with Nike Power of the SWOOSH! they sure live up to their slogan "Just Do It". [ Reply to Comment ]
P-A-N-T-H-E-R-S Reputation: 95 Level: Superstar Since: Dec 4, 2006	Posted on: June 8, 2009 5:03 pm Score: 119 Sometimes it hurts to not be affiliated with Nike Have not purcahsed a Nike product since the original Air Jordan shoe in 1986. It lasted less than one season in basketball. Then I found out how much Nike was paying the children of Asia to make their product. I have also sworn off Adidas since the early 90's. Funny how "American" companies say they can't afford to make the product domestically and still charge us an average of $120 for a pair of shoes. Pretty sure that if you looked at the numbers that the cost of making that pair of shoes is somewhere south of $20. Also, everytime your kid kicks a Nike soccer ball, remember the little Pakastani CHILD who made that ball is taking home about $0.60 a day for their labor. How much did you pay for that soccer ball? Nike is not the inventor of scumbag economics, but they - you knew this was coming - "Just Do It!" [ Reply to Comment ]
Jetsfan10 Reputation: 94 Level: All-Star Since: Jan 1, 2007	Posted on: June 8, 2009 5:12 pm Score: 96 Sometimes it hurts to not be affiliated with Nike And I bet you just boohoo at all the stuff you probably wear and own that was created by methods that are killing the human race. It's not just Nike and don't make it sound like you are the ideal citizen who only buys organic food (which all food is organic if you know a lick of chemistry), drives hybrid cars, and only lives on solar power. [ Reply to Comment ]
jldjld Reputation: 88 Level: All-Star Since: Aug 28, 2007	Posted on: June 8, 2009 5:17 pm Score: 167 How is this allowable? Is this legal? Isn't there some regulatory body who should oversee this? NCAA? TSSAA? These are young men just trying to improve their skills and some are trying to figure out if they are good enough to play major college ball. I am sure Memphis held a good camp as they have a great basketball tradition, but it is scary to think that the shoe companies have this much control over the future of these teenagers. Even worse, now the kids have to say things like "I just changed my mind" to the media. Pretty sad. Thank you to Keith Easterwood for going on the record to point out this type of blatant misuse of power. Now I just hope someone steps in and does something about it. [ Reply to Comment ]
drp10 Reputation: 78 Level: Pro Since: Sep 19, 2006	Posted on: June 8, 2009 5:24 pm Score: 68 Sometimes it hurts to not be affiliated with Nike This is the problem with AAU now. It seems more important and plays a bigger role than the high school season. How someone does during the summmer season is all that really matters. High School sports is becoming secondary in many sports(all but football???). [ Reply to Comment ]
lander Reputation: 60 Level: Pro Since: Apr 22, 2007	Posted on: June 8, 2009 5:26 pm Score: 151 Sometimes it hurts to not be affiliated with Nike I used to be an idealistic person like J James. but after 50 years I've come to this conclusion; A: NBA Players generally don't care where the money comes from, most have been raised in poverty or near poverty leading to a desire to be as far away from that live style as possible ( and after some thought, I can't blame them.) B: Simple economics are in play, people in China need jobs. and are willing to work for the wages paid. If everyone were to quit, they would hire more or move the factory to Vietnam. I buy Wal*Mart because that's what I view as a reasonable price for a shoe. (Probably manufatured in China or somewhere in Asia). There's a reason why most companies have moved their manufacturing overseas.(U.S. labor cost and labor laws, as well as workplace regulations all add cost to the product.) If they don't they won't be competetive with the companies that did. Doesn't mean I like it, but that's the way it works. C: As bad as the labor situation is in China, nothing can compare to the horror of slavery in the south or the ugly head of Jim Crow. JJ keep fighting the good fight, but the American consumer cast the ultimate vote with their pocketbook, and thats a shame. [ Reply to Comment ]
bruins88hara Reputation: 93 Level: All-Star Since: Sep 14, 2006	Posted on: June 8, 2009 5:28 pm Score: 134 Sometimes it hurts to not be affiliated with Nike I think that Nike has cleaned up a lot of what they do... not that I'm pro-Nike in any way. I think one of the craziest things about the Nike labor practices is just how badly the citizens of those countries have it. The jobs that we all consider inhumane and unfair are the DREAM job for a lot of those people. There just isn't a better way to make money in some places. 18 hours/day? We find that abusive. They're eyes are lighting up because they can make $1 and actually get work for 3/4 of the day. In rural China, a beer is $.25! imagine that... But back to basketball, this just shows how much power corporations have. They are the evolution of man and nobody realizes it yet... and we all thought we'd evolve into robots. LeBron has been a corporate product since probably 8th grade, nothing against LeBron. I hate that the sponsorship of the AAU teams is good for the players so that they can get free clothes, more exposure, etc. but then the corporation uses they're mini-investment in the player to make money for universities, shoes sales, etc. good play on their part, but that's kind of what's wrong with America. College programs shouldn't be Adidas or Nike... I don't want those companies deciding which players will go to which schools, that's what ADs and coaches are for. [ Reply to Comment ]
bigdog2323 Reputation: 99 Level: Superstar Since: Mar 29, 2007	Posted on: June 8, 2009 5:32 pm Score: 89 Sometimes it hurts to not be affiliated with Nike Newsflash, it's not just Nike doing this. Reebok and Adidas both do it, but Adidas and Nike to a greater extent because they are much more active on the HS/College scene. Is it bad? Yes, but you can't bite the hand that feeds you. Nike funds that team to travel and the team has to respect that they just can't do whatever they want. Nike isn't going to pay for your travel, lodging, food, etc. and then have you go support an Adidas camp instead of their own. [ Reply to Comment ]
halo27legend Reputation: 96 Level: Superstar Since: Oct 16, 2007	Posted on: June 8, 2009 5:39 pm Score: 71 DETAIL LEFT OUT OF THIS STORY most of the kids wanted to go to knoxville because its a trip out of town. Its fun going out of town. They allready live in Memphis, so the main attraction is taking a trip. [ Reply to Comment ]

Gary Parrish

Parrish: The Thoughts