Nike is getting dropped from the S&P 100 after 18 years. Here’s its plan to come back

After an 18-year tenure, Nike will be removed from the S&P 100 later this month. But during a panel at the Fast Company Innovation Festival in New York City this week, Phil McCartney, Nike’s chief innovation, design, and product officer, maintained that the company’s best days remain ahead. The secret sauce fueling this turnaround, he said, is a renewed focus on Nike’s engagement with athletes. What’s the rediscovered North Star for the company for the past 15 months? “Create epic shit, make athletes better,” said McCartney, who has been in his current role for a year and half. The first half of the motto is inspired by the late basketball superstar Kobe Bryant, who used to wander the Nike hallways saying “Show me the epic shit,” McCartney noted. How Nike partnerships work Athletes Sabrina Ionescu, a four-time WNBA All-Star and New York Liberty guard, and Cade Cunningham—a two-time NBA All-Star and Detroit Pistons guard—were on hand to explain how their partnerships with Nike work. Cunningham is currently developing his signature line (he says it’s always been his dream to have a signature shoe with the company), and Ionescu released the Sabrina 4 over the summer. Her Sabrina 1 wa…