Under Armour apologizes for shirt that appropriates Iwo Jima image

Social media users criticized the sports apparel brand for making an iconic war image into a basketball shirt.

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The term “ball is life” is generally used to convey an obsessive passion about the game of basketball. It’s the idea that someone thinks about basketball so much that it’s made its way into every aspect of daily dealings. Under Armour may have taken the concept a little too far with a T-shirt it was recently selling.

The shirt is a take on the iconic 1945 photo “Raising the Flag at Iwo Jima.” Instead of raising an American flag, the shirt shows four hoopsters embodying the “ball is life” mentality, raising a basketball hoop. The brand called the T-shirt “Band of Ballers.” Clever? Absolutely not, said many on the internet.

.@UnderArmour On behalf of my US Military brothers and sisters, reducing Iwo Jima to b-ball moment is UNACCEPTABLE. pic.twitter.com/hDbxnwwUG3

— Maximus (@MaxVenator) May 16, 2015

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