“Looks Like a Second Grader Made It”: Michael Phelps Gets a Cold Welcome to New NFT Project Rollout

Michael Phelps’ achievements inside the pool haven’t just earned him 23 golds. Phelps’ prowess and skill have impressed leagues of fans. Even seven years after retirement, Michael Phelps is still relevant, with millions of fans across social media. Michael’s fans are also supportive of the legendary swimmer.

Michael has partnered with digital artist Sinow to create the Sports Illustrated x Michael Phelps collection. However, his 3.4 million strong Instagram fanbase seems unimpressed after the swimmer’s latest announcement.

Michael Phelps hopped on the NFT train

The 23-time Olympic gold medalist announced on Instagram he is about to release an exclusive #d animated NFT collection on “Tuesday December 6th at 3pm EST!” The Olympic swimming legend said the collection would be exclusively available on @OneOfNft.

The Olympic swimmer said the collection commemorates his 2015 Sports Illustrated cover, ‘The Rehabilitation of Michael Phelps’. He also mentioned the interview was the first time he opened up about “My challenges with mental health.”

READ MORE: “Wants to Fight Girls in the Bathroom”: Michael Phelps’ Sister Opens Up on Her Fight With Alcoholism

However, the fans greeted Michael’s announcement with a cold welcome.

Michael’s fans seem divided after the swimmer announced the exclusive NFT collection. While a part of the fanbase seems to like the upcoming digital art, not everyone shares the same sentiment. Public figure and podcast host Jeff Gross seemed quite excited about the digital art collection and commented, “🔥🔥🔥🔥” Similarly, some other fans also seemed excited.

However, many fans don’t seem impressed with the project. “This looks like a second grader made it out of play dough,” is among the top comments at the time of writing. Others echoed a similar sentiment. “Everything is wrong about those renders :(,” commented a fan. “AI art 😟,” wrote another. “Love ya Mike but this s*** is creepy as hell” commented one disappointed fan.

While many fans seemed excited, most praised Michael instead of the digital art. “Michael, you Will always be the best. I’m your fan. ❤️,” wrote a fan. “The best of the best a LEGEND,” wrote the Instagram user. However, some users dialed up the sarcasm. “I thought I was on mushrooms then realized this wasn’t a picture, picture,” wrote musician Earnest Keith Smith.

“I thought it was a Michael Phelps Stretch Armstrong toy release,” wrote one user, comparing the upcoming collection to the stretchable toy. “Are you the new ken?,” wrote another, referring to Ken and Barbie’s Ken.

Watch this story – “Looked at Myself as an Athlete Not a Human”- Michael Phelps Struggled With Finding Self Love During His Legendary Olympic Career

What do you think of the upcoming NFT collection?