"Trademark" owner tarnishing product?

In the world of trademarks, the trademark owner generally works to maintain the high quality of the underlying product. The owner would not publicly suggest that the product is sub-par.

In the recent interchanges between Clippers owner Donald Sterling and player Baron Davis, one has the odd situation of an owner berating a product, with courtside comments like

“Why are you in the game?”

“You’re out of shape!”