Nike to Remove Billboard Ad That Offended Muslim Group

Shoe manufacturer Nike Inc. agreed Monday to remove a billboard message in South-Central Los Angeles near USC that a national Islamic organization contended was offensive to Muslims.

The billboard features a photograph of former Los Angeles Clippers basketball player John Williams with copy that reads “. . . and they call him Allah.”

Williams, who starred at Crenshaw High School, picked up the nickname as a youth, a Nike spokesman said. He was given the nickname because of his playing ability, the spokesman said, not for religious reasons.

But the Council on American-Islamic Relations, a Washington-based advocacy organization, objected to the billboard. Nike will remove the billboard promptly, a company spokesman said.