Duke Blue Devils star Jared McCain has been open about expressing himself by painting his nails before games. And unfortunately, this along with his recent NIL deal with a popular nail polish brand has led to McCain receiving some criticism on social media.
McCain’s stardom has grown throughout the season both on the court and off it in his freshman season at Duke. Not only has he impressed on the court, averaging 14 points per game along with five rebounds on the year, but he has also risen to impressive heights of fame on the popular platform TikTok.
McCain has a whopping 2.6 million followers on the platform. And with that opens up a ton of different avenues in terms of potential NIL opportunities.
The young star took to TikTok on Thursday to announce that he has partnered with popular beauty and nail polish brand Sally Hansen.
Duke guard Jared McCain has signed an NIL deal with beauty and nail polish brand Sally Hansen.
"Sorry if that offends any of you guys." pic.twitter.com/zwmmrufgA7
— Front Office Sports (@FOS) March 29, 2024
Naturally, this announcement led to a number of negative comments from a certain demographic that may find a male wearing nail polish is a bit out of the box.
No one is offended. We just thinks it’s weird
— Jackie Moon (@BreakingMooos) March 29, 2024
Influencing male youth to be feminine is how society crumbles.
— The Masters Champion (@MyDreamerPhase) March 29, 2024
Masculinity has been long gone
— RevTimChristopher (@RevTChristopher) March 29, 2024
The emasculation of a generation continues.
— Jaxsonn (@JaxsonnJordan) March 29, 2024
Personally, judging someone based on what their nails look like is a bit strange in my opinion, but to each’s own.
McCain is far from the only athlete to receive criticism from fans for deciding to paint his nails. Top quarterback prospect Caleb Williams has also received a ton of hate for deciding to paint his nails throughout the season. And some have even held this against him as a draft prospect, which again is a bit odd.
Regardless, McCain is quite unapologetic about his new NIL deal. In his TikTok video explaining the deal, he sent a clear message to those who may not be in favor of the decision.
“Sorry if it offends any of you guys,” McCain told his TikTok followers.
Say what you will, but it’s hard to hate on someone who used his interests like painting his nails, and parlayed that into some serious NIL money like McCain did. But it turns out some college basketball fans are finding a way to do exactly that…
About Reice Shipley
Reice Shipley is a staff writer for Comeback Media that graduated from Ithaca College with a degree in Sports Media. He previously worked at Barrett Sports Media and is a fan of all things Syracuse sports.