Nike CEO Elliott Hill had a message for Wall Street on Tuesday as the world’s largest sportswear maker continues its multiyear corporate turnaround effort: Think of us like the New York Knicks.
The Knicks overcame several double-digit point deficits to win the 2026 NBA championship, their first in 53 years. Hill told analysts he saw parallels between the basketball team and the current quagmire faced by Nike, which continues its broad efforts to stanch declining sales and recapture the cultural conversation.
The Knicks’ championship, Hill said, “wasn’t built on a single series or even in one season. It was built over time through setbacks and step-forwards and through relationships and buying into a system where everyone knows their role.” Hill continued, “That’s exactly how we’re building Nike, the right way. Because the goal is not one championship, it’s building the team that can do it again and again.”
Unlike the Knicks, however, Nike has yet to clinch a proverbial title. On Tuesday, the company reported broadly positive results from its fiscal 2026, ended May 31, with revenues of $46.4 billion flat compared to 2025, and net income down 3% to $3.1 billion. But Nike’s outlook for the months ahead is mixed. Revenues are expected to decline “low- to mid-single digits” through the remainder of the calendar year, owing to lower consumer discretionary spending and volatile macroeconomic conditions.
