Nike

As a young man, he stood next to Martin Luther King Jr. as he delivered his “I Have A Dream” speech. As a college basketball coach, he blazed a trail for Black coaches and players. As an executive, he was instrumental in signing Michael Jordan to his groundbreaking endorsement deal with Nike.

George Raveling had an impact that stretched far beyond basketball, the sport which he last coached three decades ago at USC. He became a revered figure in the game, not for the number of wins he accumulated over his career, but for his role as a mentor to many.

Raveling, 88, died Monday after a battle with cancer, his family announced.

“There are no words to fully capture what George meant to his family, friends, colleagues, former players, and assistants — and to the world,” the family said in a statement. “He will be profoundly missed, yet his aura, energy, divine presence, and timeless wisdom live on in all those he touched and transformed.”

Raveling coached at USC from 1986 to 1994, the first Black coach to take the helm of the Trojans basketball program. Over his first four seasons at the school, Raveling didn’t experience much success, winning just 38 of USC’s 116 games over that stretch.

Raveling found his stride in the second half of his tenure, taking the Trojans to two straight NCAA tournaments and two NITs after that. But his overall record at USC never broke .500 (115-118). In September 1994, Raveling was in a serious car accident that eventually led him to retire. He suffered nine broken ribs and a collapsed lung and fractured his pelvis and collarbone.

After his coaching career, Raveling joined Nike as the director of grassroots basketball, later rising to the role of director of international basketball.

But his biggest contribution at Nike came out of his relationship with Jordan, whom Raveling had coached as an assistant with the U.S. national team at the 1984 Olympics. Jordan, whose deal with Nike sent the brand into a new stratosphere, credited Raveling for making it happen. In the foreword for Raveling’s book, Jordan called him “a mentor”.

“If not for George, there would be no Air Jordan,” Jordan wrote.

Across the basketball world, similar plaudits came pouring in Tuesday in light of Raveling’s death.

Eric Musselman, USC’s current basketball coach, said Raveling was “not only a Hall of Fame basketball mind but a tremendous person who paved the way on and off the court.”

Former Villanova coach Jay Wright wrote on social media that Raveling was “the finest human being, inspiring mentor, most loyal alum and a thoughtful loving friend.”

Raveling grew up in Washington D.C., during a time of segregation and hardship. His family lived in a two-room apartment above a grocery store, where they shared a bathroom with four other families on the same floor. His father died suddenly when he was 9. His mother suffered a mental health crisis a few years later and spent most of her remaining years in a psychiatric hospital. Raveling left home at 14 to attend a boarding school.

It was at St. Michaels, a mostly white boarding school in Pennsylvania, that Raveling first started playing basketball. He earned a scholarship at Villanova, where he became a captain and later an assistant coach.

But the college experience, he later said, had an even more profound impact on Raveling.

“I’ve always felt like a sprinter who’d slipped at the starting box and was 20 yards behind everybody — I’ve been in a mad dash to catch up with everybody ever since,” Raveling told The Times in 1994. “My mom worked two jobs when I was a kid. There were no books in our house. Nobody envisioned that I’d graduate from college. No one even encouraged me to go to college.”

He’d spend the rest of his life, it seems, trying to make up for lost time.

Raveling was standing just a few feet away from King on the National Mall in Washington D.C. in 1963 as he delivered his famed “I Have A Dream” speech. King actually handed Raveling his copy of the historic speech immediately after he finished.

For decades, Raveling kept it tucked inside of a book, before recounting the story to a journalist. According to Sports Illustrated, a collector later offered Raveling $3 million for his copy of the speech. But he declined and donated it instead to Villanova.

George Raveling was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, Mass., in 2015.

(Charles Krupa / Associated Press)

Raveling pioneered a path that few Black coaches ever had through his career. He was the first Black coach in the history of the Atlantic Coast Conference when he started as an assistant in 1969. Three years later, at Washington State, he became the first Black coach to lead a Pac-8 (now Pac-12) Conference basketball team.

He coached at Iowa from 1983-86 before being hired at USC. At the time, the Trojans had a roster that included Hank Gathers and Bo Kimble, who were coming off their freshman season. Raveling gave the players a firm deadline to tell him if they planned to remain on the team and when they didn’t he revoked their scholarships. Both went on to star at Loyola Marymount.

Raveling was inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in 2015. But as a “contributor”, not as a coach. Even while he was coaching, Raveling seemed to understand that his role meant more than that.

“Winning basketball games just helps you keep your job,” he told The Times in 1994. “But keeping your job helps you work with these kids about the real challenges of life, which all happen away from the court. I know there’s an enormous demand around here to win. But I don’t want someone to ask me what I accomplished in my life and for me to say that I won this amount of games or took a team to some tournament.

“If all I can say is that I taught a kid how to shoot a jump shot, well, that’s not good enough. These kids come out of underprivileged, inner-city areas, and I’m just wasting my time if I haven’t put something of substance into their lives.”

June 27 (UPI) — Nike is forecasting a rebound from slow sales and profits in the last quarter and despite $1 billion in added tariff costs on foreign goods of its sneakers and athletic gear.

The company, headquartered in Beaverton, Ore., said Thursday the tariff costs can be mitigated with products made elsewhere, and additional costs will be passed onto customers.

In late 2024, sales dropped 12% to $11.1 billion, the lowest since the third quarter of 2022, according to a report issued Thursday. Net income for the quarter plunged 86% to $200 million.

For fiscal 2025, Nike reported revenues of $46.3 billion — a 10% decline from fiscal 2024. Net income was 3.2 billion, down 44%.

The company posted an earnings per share of 14 cents for its fourth quarter, which is much lower than 99 cents the company posted in the same quarter a year earlier. Dividends were $2.3 billion, up 6% from the previous year.

CEO Elliott Hill said in an earnings call that the company’s worst days are behind it, and profits would begin to moderate in the quarters ahead.

“The results we’re reporting today in Q4 and in FY25 are not up to the Nike standard, but as we said 90 days ago, the work we’re doing to reposition the business through our ‘Win Now’ actions is having an impact,” said Hill on an earnings call, referencing the name of the company’s turnaround plan. “From here, we expect our business results to improve. It’s time to turn the page.”

Hill was brought in to lead the company last year to change its economic situation.

The company’s shares initially fell when it posted results after the closing bell Thursday. At the end of trading, the stock price was $61.56. On Friday, it went above $74, which is a 17% increase.

HSBC also raised its price target to $80. The all-time high Nike closing price was $168.16 on Nov. 05, 2021.

“Don’t hope for a V-shape, more like a Swoosh, but it does seem like a recovery is finally on its way after years of pain,” HSBC analyst Erwan Rambourg wrote in a note released Friday. “Sales momentum gets better from here; gross margin pressures should also start to ease later this year despite tariffs.”

“Long in the making but we think the inflection is finally here,” Rambourg wrote. “We think there is more than tangible evidence that Nike has a path to see its sales rebound in the not-too-distant future, and its margins to be repaired, and this despite an unfavorable tariff headwind.”

Nike confirmed it would take a $1 billion from tariffs, including in two countries where its goods are made: China and Vietnam.

China now manufactures 16% of Nike footwear that goes to the U.S. and plans are to reduce that to single digit.

In April, President Donald Trump placed a 46% tariff on products manufactured in Vietnam and 146% on goods made in China. He later reduced both rates with 10% in Vietnam and 30% in China.

Most U.S. trading partners have had the 10% baseline tariff after Trump paused higher ones until July 9 on the worst offenders, including China and Vietnam. Trump has said the pause could be extended.

Last month, the U.S. and China agreed trade a trade agreement that includes the Asian nation sending more rare earth metals to the U.S. in return for lifting export restrictions.

CFO Matt Friend said during the earnings call the tariffs “represent a new and meaningful cost headwind,” but they will “fully mitigate” the costs by reducing its supply chain reliance on China to single digits.

Hill described the turnaround plans, including boosting sales to female shoppers. During the last quarter, the company launched products in more than 200 female-led shops, including Aritzia. It also added a collection with WNBA star A’ja Wilson.

Nike has begun plans to sell on Amazon.

“Nike, Jordan and Converse teams will now come to work every day with a mission to create the most innovative and coveted product, footwear, apparel, and accessories for the specific athletes they serve,” Hill said. “These sport-obsessed teams will create greater dimension and distinction for our three brands, will make us more competitive, and will accelerate our growth.”

Nike has said it will cut its reliance on production in China for the United States market to mitigate the impact from US tariffs on imports, and forecast a smaller-than-expected drop in first-quarter revenue.

The sportswear giant’s shares zoomed 15 percent at the opening bell on Friday morning after it announced the change in conjunction with its earnings report released on Thursday.

US President Donald Trump’s sweeping tariffs on imports from key trading partners could add about $1bn to Nike’s costs, company executives said on a post-earnings call after the sportswear giant topped estimates for fourth-quarter results.

China, subject to the biggest tariff increases imposed by Trump, accounts for about 16 percent of the shoes Nike imports into the US, Chief Financial Officer Matthew Friend said. However, the company aims to cut the figure to a “high single-digit percentage range” by the end of May 2026 as it reallocates Chinese production to other countries.

“We will optimise our sourcing mix and allocate production differently across countries to mitigate the new cost headwind into the United States,” he said on a call with investors.

Consumer goods are one of the most affected areas by the tariff dispute between the world’s two largest economies, but Nike’s executives said they were focused on cutting the financial pain. Nike will “evaluate” corporate cost reductions to deal with the tariff impact, Friend said. The company has already announced price increases for some products in the US.

“The tariff impact is significant. However, I expect others in the sportswear industry will also raise prices, so Nike may not lose much share in the US,” David Swartz, analyst at Morningstar Research, told the Reuters news agency.

CEO Elliott Hill’s strategy to focus product innovation and marketing around sports is beginning to show some fruit, with the running category returning to growth in the fourth quarter after several quarters of weakness.

Having lost share in the fast-growing running market, Nike has invested heavily in running shoes such as Pegasus and Vomero, while scaling back production of sneakers such as the Air Force 1.

“Running has performed especially strongly for Nike,” said Citi analyst Monique Pollard, adding that new running shoes and sportswear products are expected to offset the declines in Nike’s classic sneaker franchises at wholesale partner stores.

Marketing spending was up 15 percent year on year in the quarter.

On Thursday, Nike hosted an event in which its sponsored athlete Faith Kipyegon attempted to run a mile in under four minutes. Paced by other star athletes in the glitzy event that was livestreamed from a Paris stadium, Kipyegon fell short of the goal but set a new unofficial record.

Nike forecast first-quarter revenue to fall in the mid-single digits, slightly better than analysts’ expectations of a 7.3 percent drop, according to data compiled by LSEG. Its fourth-quarter sales fell 12 percent  to $11.10bn, but still beat estimates of a 14.9 percent drop to $10.72bn.

China continued to be a pain point, with executives saying a turnaround in the country will take time as Nike contends with tougher economic conditions and competition.

Looming trade deal as prices rise

Nike’s woes come as a trade deal with China could be on the horizon. US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessett said on Friday that the administration could have a deal with Beijing by Labor Day, which is on September 1.

Under the deal, the US will likely impose 55 percent tariffs across the board on Chinese goods, down from 145 percent, still a significant burden on businesses.

According to a survey from Allianz Global Trade last month, 38 percent of businesses say they will need to raise prices for consumers, with Nike being the latest.

In April, competitor Adidas said it would need to eventually raise prices for US consumers.

“Cost increases due to higher tariffs will eventually cause price increases,” CEO Bjorn Gulden said at the time.

Walmart said last month that its customers will see higher price tags in its stores as the nation’s biggest big box retailer prepares for back to school shopping season.

Target, which had a bad first quarter driven by boycotts and the looming threat of tariffs, also has been hit as the big box retailer gets 30 percent of its goods from China.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander puzzled people when he debuted his signature Converse shoe during All-Star weekend.

Converse? Where Chuck Taylor retros reside? Sure, Gilgeous-Alexander — known simply as SGA — was a rapidly improving player on a rapidly improving Oklahoma City Thunder team. But him as the face of a fading performance sneaker outfit didn’t compute.

Fast forward to the NBA Finals. Moments after the Thunder’s 103-91 Game 7 victory over the Indiana Pacers, SGA ascended the stage to accept his most valuable player trophy with a golden colorway of his signature shoe hanging from his neck.

Then on Tuesday, SGA doubled down, enjoying the championship parade with “Trophy Gold” Converse SHAI 001s on his feet.

Who would have thought Oklahoma City would become a flash point of foot fashion. And during Paris Fashion Week no less, when big brands from Nike and New Balance to Adidas and Asics introduce new product lines.

Nothing enhances marketing like winning, and SGA is the undisputed NBA victor of the season. He’s the anointed MVP of the regular season as well as the Finals, leading the league in scoring and doing it all with an impish grin and requisite humility.

As creative director of Converse, the shoe fits.

“I’m able to essentially do whatever I want to do with the shoe. How it’s going to play out, the ball is really in my court,” SGA told Boardroom TV in December. “It’s something that I could imagine every athlete would want to ask for, to try and tell their story and show themselves to the world how they want to do it. To have complete control, it’s a blessing.”

But can SGA elevate Converse from the bargain rack? His SHAI 001s aren’t grandpa’s Chuck Taylor All-Stars, those classic shoes of timeless design consisting of a white toe cap over cotton canvas adorned with a distinctive All-Star logo.

They made a comeback last year when presidential candidate Kamala Harris wore them but Converse recorded year-over-year sales declines of 15% or more in each of the last three fiscal quarters.

Chuck Taylor was a semi-pro basketball player and traveling salesman for the Converse Rubber Shoe Company in the early 1920s when he designed the shoe. By the 1950s nearly everyone on a basketball court wore them, but they declined in popularity by the end of the 1970s before enjoying a comeback as nostalgic casual footwear.

A few years after going through bankruptcy, Converse was swallowed up by Nike in 2003 for $305 million. So, technically, SGA is just another massively paid shill for Nike, standing in line behind Michael Jordan, LeBron James, Tiger Woods, Selena Williams, Cristiano Ronaldo and Rory McIlroy.

But by aligning himself with an all-but-forgotten underdog of a brand, SGA has an opportunity to author a chapter in the signature shoe wars that could rival his already substantial accomplishments on the court.

There is one problem. The Shai 001 won’t be available for sale until the fall. Converse can’t capitalize on OKC and SGA fans wanting to rock the golden “butter” footwear of their new hero, and wanting them NOW.

A limited release, at least, did take place in downtown Oklahoma City for two hours Tuesday before the parade.

Aligning with a current player always involves an element of risk for a shoe company. Converse learned this firsthand in 1997 when it dropped Latrell Sprewell as an endorser and spokesman after the NBA star choked coach P.J. Carlesimo during a Golden State Warriors practice.

And the risk isn’t always about misbehavior. Puma unveiled the Hali 1, its first shoe in collaboration with the Pacers’ Tyrese Haliburton on the day this year’s NBA Finals began. Haliburton tore an Achilles tendon in Game 7 and will miss most, if not all, of next season.

So Converse must continue to be quick on its feet to capitalize on its so far fortunate choice of SGA to represent the brand. He’s only 26 and displays leadership and other qualities of a role model in addition to otherworldly hoop skills.

Can Converse become relevant again in the performance space? Can SGA become as linked to the brand as Chuck Taylor? First the shoes must hit the market. One step at a time.

“I wanted to create something new,” SGA told Boardroom TV. “I wanted to bring Converse into my world and have Converse through my lens.”

After running — or more like barely surviving — my first half-marathon about a decade ago in Las Vegas, I had no desire to participate in a long-distance run ever again.

That was until I learned that Nike was hosting the Nike After Dark tour, a women’s race series designed to celebrate women and encourage them to get into the sport. The L.A. half-marathon — the tour’s only stop in the U.S. — was slated to include a concert with Grammy-winning rapper Doechii at the end of the 13.1 mile race. Given that Nike has built a reputation for curating cool, culture-forward experiences, I figured this would be the perfect way for me to get out of my years-long retirement from running. Plus, several of my friends were participating so it was bound to be a good time.

After training for several weeks at parks and tracks around L.A., I hit the pavement alongside nearly 15,000 participants — 43% of whom were first-time half-marathoners — on Saturday evening at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood. The event sparked a lot of online chatter — not all positive — with some runners calling the race disorganized and a marketing event catered to influencers. As for me, I experienced several highs during the energetic event, but also some moments of frustration and confusion. Here’s how the night went down, from the starting line (and the journey in getting there) to the high-octane concert finale.

Pre-race: Getting to the starting line was a marathon in itself

Knowing that thousands of people were expected to participate in the event, I opted to get to the SoFi Stadium about an hour and a half early to avoid traffic. In hindsight, I should’ve arrived even earlier. Several streets were blocked off due to the race, but once I found the parking lot, it was easy for me to find a spot — much easier than it was at the recent Kendrick Lamar and SZA concert a few weeks prior. (While registration for the race started at $150, parking was thankfully free for those who secured a spot ahead of time.)

After experiencing long lines and a delayed start time, runners gather in their assigned corrals to prepare for the 13.1-mile race.

I followed a herd of people toward the entrance where we went through a security checkpoint, then a bag check line, which took about 30 minutes to get through. Afterward, I rushed outside to find my friends and waited in yet another line — this time for the porta-potties — which took about 40 minutes.

The starting line, at last

By this time, there were only about 10 minutes until race time and I still needed to stretch, so my group ran over to the starting corrals. The race was initially scheduled to begin at 6:30 p.m., but an emcee announced that it was being pushed back to 6:45 p.m. This made me nervous because the concert was set for 9:30 p.m., so this meant that I’d have less than three hours to finish if I wanted to catch the show.

In the weeks leading up to the marathon, some participants took to social media to voice their concerns about Nike changing its course time from four hours — as it stated on the registration form — to three hours. In one Threads post, a runner said: “If the whole purpose of this event was to reclaim running by giving women a space to feel safe running at night, then why wouldn’t you be inclusive to runners of all paces?”

In response to the feedback, Nike ultimately set the course time to three hours and 17 minutes, allowing for an average mile of 15 minutes per mile, according to a Nike spokesperson. The brand added a shorter course option, which was nine miles, so participants could still cross the finish line, receive a medal (a silver necklace with a giant Nike swoosh) and enjoy the concert.

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Despite the confusion, people were amped. “I’m at this phase in my life where I really want to prove to myself that I can do hard things,” said Ayanna Fox, 29, of Chino Hills, on why she wanted to participate.

Misty Garcia, 17, a Venice High School student, said: “I felt like this race in particular was so interesting because it was going to be mostly women and it’s about women empowerment, so I love it.”

As Charli xcx’s “360” played over the speakers, Nike trainers along with Olympic gymnast Jordan Chiles and Olympic hurdler Anna Cockrell, hyped up the crowd as each corral took off. This was the point when my nerves started to kick in because I was eager to get started. About 7:05 p.m., a burst of smoke popped. I was finally off and running.

Host Elisa Hernandez, from left, Diljeet Taylor, Anna Cockrell and Jordan Chiles at the Nike After Dark Tour in L.A.

Miles 1-7: The excitement of activations, DJs and cheering fans

The first seven miles were the most exhilarating for me. I felt strong and confident about my pace. And for my legs, this stretch was smooth sailing. Hundreds of people were cheering from the sidelines and holding up signs with statements like “You run better than our government,” “Hot girls run half marathons” and “Hurry up so we can drink.” Drivers along the freeway were honking for us. DJs played upbeat house and hip-hop music. USC’s band performed. Between the six- and seven-mile marker, we ran through a tunnel that was filled with flashing red lights and bubble machines. The energy was electric.

Supporters cheer and hold signs as runners embark on the Nike After Dark half marathon in L.A.

Several brands including Flamingo, Honey Stinger (which gave out free energy gels and snacks) and Beats by Dre had activations along the course. There was even a recovery station with couches, restroom trailers and snacks.

Miles 8-10: The pain sets in

Just before Mile 8, my headphones died and that’s when the hills started to get to me. I felt like I was running up and down a sharp roller coaster. Without music, I was forced to talk myself through the final stretch. But it was in these trenches that I noticed several sweet moments of community care: a volunteer passing out Bengay cream, a group of friends holding up a woman as she limped, runners shouting out their home countries and waving their flags in the wake of the ICE raids that were happening in our city at this very moment. It was a beautiful reminder of how much better we are as people when we support one another.

Supporters record and cheer as runners embark on the Nike women’s half-marathon at the SoFi Stadium in Inglewood.

Around Mile 10, I spotted Chris Bennett, Nike’s running global head coach, giving out high-fives and encouraging people to push forward. (He even ran with the last bunch of runners and helped them across the finish line.)

The final mile — or was it?

As I neared the end, I felt bamboozled because there were at least two massive archways that looked like the finish line, but actually weren’t. I still had a ways to go. I could’ve cried tears of joy when I finally reached the end. I clocked in at three hours and three minutes, which I was pleased with because my only goals were to finish, have fun and make it to the concert. The winner was Sofia Camacho, a drag artist and Nike run coach based in New York, who clocked in at one hour, 15 minutes and 25 seconds.

Hundreds of supporters line the course as runners embark on the Nike After Dark Tour in Los Angeles.

After grabbing my medal, I walked as fast as my sore limbs would allow back inside the stadium. The trek felt tortuous because we had to climb up multiple sets of stairs, then journey down a walkway that was roughly 10 levels that felt never-ending until we reached the bottom where the stage was. Some people gave up on watching the show simply because they didn’t have the energy to make it down.

The grand finale: Doechii brings the energy

By the time I got there, I was disappointed to see that Doechii was already on her final two songs of her 30-minute set, but the energy was so high that I quickly forgot and just enjoyed the moment while I could. The show ended just before 10:40 p.m. while some folks were still running including one of my friends who missed the show and wasn’t able to get a pair of Barbie pink Nike slides and socks they were passing out.

The night ends and yet the trek continues

After the show, we were instructed to exit the stadium — thankfully there was an escalator — but I still had to muster up the energy to go back to the entrance at the other side of the stadium so I could retrieve my belongings from the bag check area. My legs were finished by the time I got to my car.

Aside from some logistical issues and long wait times, I enjoyed participating in the Nike After Dark Tour. The course was challenging but doable, and running alongside thousands of women and allies of various ages and backgrounds at night felt empowering. Runners received a ton of freebies, particularly at the bib pickup at the Grove, which included a dri-fit T-shirt and makeup from Milk.

As someone who typically avoids cardio in my workout sessions, this race has inspired me to continue hitting the pavement and exploring this beautiful city on foot. And who knows, I just might sign up for another race.

Runners take off for the women’s half-marathon, which started at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood.