To state the obvious, this would be a public relations disaster for Nike, one from which they might have a hard time recovering.
China is not only one of the key manufacturing plants for Nike but also a profitable one to sell its products.
FORBES: Strong Chinese Demand, Sustainable Innovation Give Nike Upside
Two one-minute Nike commercials featuring Steve Martin and a handful of NBA players only aired on television once, but became one of the most famous Jordan Brand marketing pieces to date.
FORBES: Michael Jordan's Johnny Kilroy Makes Return After Nearly 20 Years with Fun Marketing Push
If these allegations prove to be true, Nike could be the one hung out to dry.
FORBES: Will Nike Be Implicated In The Lance Armstrong Scandal?
Nike previously had made one pair of shoes for an 11-year-old disabled child in Oregon.
And that has prompted one longtime Nike-sponsored athlete and potential medalist to threaten to go barefoot instead.
Two slick new Nike iD Studios, one in New York City and one in London, allow consumers to design their own shoes.
Another one, called Nike chalkbot, is a program that encouraged people to send messages of hope to those fighting cancer.
Chase, a lawyer in the Sports Law practice at Dow Lohnes PLLC in Washington, said an exclusive deal, like the one reached by Nike, is extremely valuable in terms of exposure.
The size of one's Nike contract is often seen as another form of scorekeeping for the modern athlete, alongside things like the size of their contracts or the number of Twitter followers they have.
McIlroy even managed to snatch one of Woods' Nike clubs and take a few practice swings, which did nothing to dampen the speculation.
Worse still, in a desperate attempt to make the weekend, McIlroy gave up on his new sponsor's putter the Nike Method and went back to his tried and trusted short stick, one designed by Scotty Cameron and made by Nike's archrival of the golf manufacturing world, Titleist.
Conversations like that one have become somewhat routine at Nike over the past decade.
He noted networked Scrabble as being one example as well as the Nike Fuelband which uses Bluetooth technology to connect to your phone.
FORBES: 6 Ingredients For Great Mobile Applications From Apple
Will he join Lance Armstrong and one day cause a massive scandal putting his Nike contract in jeopardy?
But can Nike's strategy succeed indefinitely as the company veers from one catastrophe to the next?
Toyota wants to build vehicles more the way Nike assembles its shoes--with the soles made in one country, cloth uppers cut in a nearby country, all stitched together in a third country.
One by one, he turns out posters for clients like FedEx, Nike and Bruce Springsteen.
The end result is two great players for one team (or brand, in this case): Nike.
FORBES: Tiger Woods Acts as Competitive Big Brother to Rory McIlroy in New Nike Commercial
But Nike managed to report a 2% increase in net income, excluding one-timers from both years.
Devices worn on the wrist are one hot area, with companies like Jawbone Inc. and Nike Inc.
When it was over, the 35-year-old unleashed one of his trademark first-pumps, and removed his Nike cap to reveal a thinning hairline.
Pistorius fits perfectly into Nike's view of the world: That the most powerful thing one can sell isn't comfortable, stylish performance sportswear, it's the concept of possibility.
Eventually, and not surprisingly, he has a sparks-flying showdown with one of his biggest prey, Phil Knight, the boss of Nike.
Nike has long relied on a matrix organization: footwear, apparel and equipment on one dimension, geographic areas on the other.
LOL. If one thing could be gleaned from the ruthless, tunnel-visioned, Nike-hubris career of Eldrick Tiger Woods, surrender was not an option.
WSJ: Jason Gay: Tiger's Staying, Are You?: Masters Golf Tournament
But in the case of its newest ad, the one featuring Woods and five words that ring of that unforgettable scandal, Nike is wrong.
FORBES: Winning Doesn't Take Care Of Everything For Tiger Woods--Or Anybody Else
With Nike also terminating its relationship with Armstrong today, it seems like the end of the road for one of the highest-profile athletes America has produced.
Sneakermakers Nike and Reebok are among the advertisers that pay EA to put their logos on the players (in one game, NBA LIVE, gamers can change the color and style of players' logo-emblazoned footwear).
应用推荐