When Chicago Bulls point guard Derrick Rose tore his ACL at the end of the Game 1 of the Bulls/Philadelphia 76ers playoff series on Saturday afternoon, just about everyone who follows sports shed a tear. All indications are that Rose is a good guy both on and off the basketball court, so it was truly devastating to see the reigning MVP go down with a season-ending injury in the first game of this year’s playoffs. But I say “just about everyone” because there was at least one person out there who wasn’t exactly bawling his eyes out when Rose went down.

Shortly after the world found out that the Bulls would be without Rose for the remainder of this season and at least part of next season with his ACL injury, Nike designer Jason Petrie (a guy we’ve covered on Dr. Jay’s Live before) took to his Twitter account and sent out a series of scandalous tweets. Specifically, Petrie—who has designed several of LeBron James‘s signature sneakers—called out Rose’s decision to sign with adidas rather than Nike a few years ago.

“You got one guy [LeBron James] only getting stronger, and one guy breaking down before our very eyes,” Petrie wrote. “You chose poorly Pooh…#shouldasignedwithNIKE #GWS.”

As a result, Petrie immediately got called out by a number of basketball fans on Twitter. And rightfully so. To send out a tweet like the one he sent out seemed incredibly insensitive of him and poorly timed. But, he didn’t stop there. After seeing all the backlash he was getting, Petrie took to Twitter again a short time later to try and explain himself.

“Y’all take sh#t too serious!” he tweeted. “Never want to see anyone get hurt- I hope DRose comes back stronger than ever, he’s too good…”

All good, right? Eh, not exactly. When he realized that he was still under attack from Rose fans, he took to Twitter once again to express his anger towards the people who were still calling him out for his original tweet about Rose. “Just to set the record straight,” he tweeted, “if you ain’t with me you against me, and if that’s the case I don’t give a F about you!”

Yikes. Fortunately, Petrie did take the time to apologize on Twitter on Sunday by saying, “It was really just tongue n cheek! Never meant any harm or disrespect!”

And, Nike also chimed in with an apology of their own. “As a brand that is passionate about sport, we recognize the intense level of play that every athlete has engaged in during this basketball season and respect the decision it takes to compete,” the company said in a statement. “One of our basketball footwear designers posted comments online that we feel are inappropriate, and he has since apologized. We wish anyone who is injured a speedy recovery.”

“Anyone” who is injured? Okay, so it wasn’t exactly the most sincere apology. But, it did help put an end to one of the more controversial situations involving a Nike employee in recent times. Let’s just hope it’s over once and for all.

Now #GWS, Derrick. Get well soon. We think that’s all that Jason Petrie really wanted to say to you in the first place.

Bookmark to: