Zion Williamson cuts so hard his shoe falls apart, which causes him to fall down and lose the ball for a UNC layup. (0:43)

Zion in pain after shoe comes apart (0:43)

Shortly after the game started between No. 1 Duke and No. 8 North Carolina on Wednesday, Duke freshman Zion Williamson left the court after ripping through his left shoe when trying to reverse his dribble. The potential No. 1 overall pick of the 2019 NBA draft, Williamson did not return to the game after Duke announced he had suffered an apparent knee injury.

A number of NBA players reacted to Williamson's injury on social media.

Hope young fella is ok! Literally blew thru his 👟. 🙏🏾 — LeBron James (@KingJames) February 21, 2019

Instead of making a self serving shoe joke I hope @ZionW32 is ok. — Spencer Dinwiddie (@SDinwiddie_25) February 21, 2019

Again let's remember all the money that went into this game.... and these players get none of it.... and now Zion gets hurt... something has to change @NCAA — Donovan Mitchell (@spidadmitchell) February 21, 2019

Come on over to puma 🤷🏾‍♂️ — Terry Rozier (@T_Rozzay3) February 21, 2019

Didn't know he was hurt 🙏🏾 — Terry Rozier (@T_Rozzay3) February 21, 2019

The 44th President of the United States, Barack Obama, also shared his thoughts postgame.