I agree that it is irrational, but it is also irrational for the media to all be on one side of the boat and constantly insult anyone who disagrees with them. These people live in an echo chamber and despite their obsession with "diversity", they have no clue what those outside their bubble think. I actually do not think the people who run NKE are stupid, even if this decision appears to challenge that assessment. They see their market as basically ghetto plus high school and college teams. They see this as giving them a leg up in those markets. Whatever, I am done with them. It's not like there are no alternatives. New Balance and Under Armour for example.
What is Nike doing about all the violence in those ghettos which is directly related to their product? Hundreds of young men, overwhelmingly black, are killed each and every year for gym shoes. Shouldn't Nike bear some responsibility for this? Of course, that would be like asking them to care about child slave labor. https://www.complex.com/sneakers/2016/02/truth-about-sneaker-store-violence
If you read any of the books written by guys who were in Afghanistan, you will see that incompetency and career ass-covering by higher ups are constant themes.