Duke star Jared McCain’s fondness for painting his nails, which he framed as a form of “self-care,” did not prevent NC State from defeating Duke and ending their March Madness run.
McCain had endorsed a nail polish brand, saying it was a way to curb nail-biting and that people should engage in self-care, apologizing if his nail polish offended anyone.
“Dudes wearing nail polish has always been a pearl-clutching controversy for some reason … despite big celebs like Harry Styles, Machine Gun Kelly and Heisman winner Caleb Williams famously rocking the look lately, ” TMZ wrote.
Duke basketball player Jared McCain signed an endorsement deal with a beauty and nail polish company. pic.twitter.com/uRKg0SpRyT
— Vision4theBlind (@Vision4theBlind) March 31, 2024
“There’s really no crazy reason to it,” McCain said.
“Just do some self care time, I think everybody should do some self care for themselves,” McCain said.
“For me, it’s nail painting. Sorry if that offends any of you guys,” he said.
However, NC State defeated Duke for the second time in the tournament, belying McCain’s assertion that his nail polish was merely self-care unrelated to basketball.
Some views see displays of traditionally feminine behaviors in male athletes as challenging outdated masculine norms, while others argue masculinity and winning matter greatly in male sports.
In this case, McCain’s “self-care” did not translate to on-court success against their ACC rival NC State.
