This Is Why Nike's Head of Basketball Business Just Resigned

The Street reports that exec Michael Jackson just left his seat as vice president and general manager of the Nike’s basketball business. Jackson resigns after just two years in the position and will be replaced by 27-year company veteran Craig Zanon. Zanon previously headed the company’s basketball division for seven years and was recently managing Nike’s global training branch. According to Stifel analyst Jim Duffy, a note given to clients read, “The resignation follows underwhelming holiday season signature shoe releases in North America.”

Upon closer look, the result of Jackson’s ousting is a response to struggling basketball sneaker sales. Foot Locker, for example, saw customers showing greater interest in Under Armour’s Steph Curry signature shoes. Comparatively, moving Nike’s LeBron and Kevin Durant lines “proved the most challenging” according to the retail giant. With evidence of the difficulty to move the superstar-endorsed products, Nike could well be in the works of lowering the prices of these styles to encourage sales. As for the Jordan brand, sales of the line had “excellent results” according to Foot Locker’s chief Richard Johnson.

In a recent Sneakernomics report written by Matt Powell, the last few quarters saw a decline in the sales of performance basketball footwear. Of all the major brands, only Under Armour showed growth. With UA now an even bigger threat, Nike had to make some major decisions to to help move its basketball lines in the right direction — replacing Michael Jackson was inevitable and could be just one of many more rearrangements to come.