Craig Zanon has been appointed general manager of global basketball at Nike, following the departure of Michael Jackson, who held the job for two years.
Separately, it turns out that Dave Dombrow, the designer who announced he was leaving Under Armour for Nike in March, is actually returning to Under Armour as chief design officer from the start of August. Dombrow previously worked at Nike and Puma but he gained more prominence recently as a key person behind the coveted Stephen Curry basketball shoes and other fast-selling Under Armour footwear. It appears that he never actually returned to Nike, since he had a non-compete clause for several months with Under Armour.
Zanon has been with Nike for 27 years, including seven years in charge of basketball, before Jackson took over. Among his other jobs in the Nike group, Zanon was general manager of U.S. footwear and general manager for the Americas.
Jackson's departure made some noise in the U.S. market since basketball is a huge category for Nike. It brought in wholesale equivalent sales of more than $3.7 billion for the fiscal year to the end of May 2015 – making basketball the second-largest category after running.
It was estimated last year that the Nike group holds a market share of 96 percent in the U.S. basketball market, but Under Armour has been making headway through its partnership with Stephen Curry of the Golden State Warriors. Some U.S. reports pointed to underwhelming product launches and pricing issues with Nike signature shoes for Lebron James and Kevin Durant. Comments provided by Foot Locker on the back of its latest results suggest that Nike is preparing to reduce the price of some of its most publicized signature shoes.
Zanon is set to manage the basketball category and to lead its strategic partnership with the National Basketball Association (NBA), taking over from the Adidas brand in October 2017. Before that, he will continue to lead the global men's training business for Nike.
Prior to his appointment in charge of basketball in June 2014, Jackson was Nike's vice president and general manager of North America basketball. He is a former professional player and Nike said at the time that he had experience in both North America and China.
