Duke guard Jared McCain has been trolled for liking to paint his fingernails Blue Devils blue, but he’s getting the last laugh.
McCain announced on social media that he has signed a Name, Image and Likeness deal with nail polish brand Sally Hansen, saying, “Sorry if that offends any of you guys.”
McCain, whose Duke team is in the NCAA Elite 8, said one reasons he paints his nails is that it keeps him from biting them, adding on TikTok, “I’m just gonna be myself and do what I think looks nice.”
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“One of the reasons why I kept painting my nails is I had a game after I painted my nails, and I ended up playing really well,” he said on TikTok. “I’m not crazy superstitious, but if I thought it looked nice, I thought it helped me play better, and so far it’s worked. So I’ma just keep doing it.”
McCain, 20, had a refreshing attitude about painting his nails in an interview with Complex.
“I understand girls do it. I understand men have started to do it a little more recently, but it was just something I saw and I like to get manicures and pedicures. I take care of my body. … I’ve always been big on just being yourself in any situation possible,” he said. “And never letting somebody tell you what, what you can and can’t be. So doing the painted nails is kind of a part of me now. I just kind of do it whether I get to hate or not.
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“The hate is funny because it’s usually grown men most of the time and it’s like you’re a grown man just hating on a kid. It doesn’t affect me at all. I kind of just laugh at it.”
Just as with likely No. 1 NFL Draft pick Caleb Williams and his pink nails, McCain has a refreshing attitude and sounds way more grown up than any idiot who would criticize him for painting his nails. Before the Sally Hansen deal, McCain was already making $1.1 million in NIL deals. Painting his nails will now make a what was once a hobby even more lucrative.
