Hi everyone, welcome back to SportsVerse, my twice-weekly newsletter that tells stories you can’t find anywhere else about the intersection of sports, fashion, business, and culture.
First things first, thank you for all the messages and shoutouts following the OffBall25 launch this week. If you don’t know what I’m talking about, and you’re interested in sports and fashion (which you should be if you find yourself subscribed to SportsVerse), then look no further.
The project, brought to life in the form of a beautiful digital zine, launched yesterday and was designed to be both a resource to people across both industries and also a celebration of the 25 individuals pushing the culture and business forward at the intersection of the sports and fashion industries.
If you know me by now, you’ll know this was a pure passion project, and one I loved bringing to life along with the rest of the OffBall team. Among the 25 people — selected by us and a collective of industry leaders, including Domo Wells, Courtney Mays, Roman King and Don C — are generationally talented athletes from A’ja Wilson to Leah Williamson, leading sportswear industry execs like Nike CMO Nicole Graham, innovative stylists like Brittany Hampton and designers from Willy Chavarria to Esther Wallace.
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The issue has four main Spotlight stories, which I had the pleasure of writing, and are profiles of A’ja Wilson (the inaugural OffBall25 MVP), 2024 WNBA Rookie of the Year Paige Bueckers, BMX rider turned streetwear hitmaker Nigel Sylvester and Stylist of the Year (in my eyes at least) Brittany Hampton.
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I’ve reproduced my story on A’ja from the OffBall25 zine to give you guys a little sneak preview. Check it out below.
Let us consider A’ja Wilson just for her on-court achievements over the past 12 months: The Las Vegas Aces star and jewel of USA Basketball picked up her fourth WNBA MVP award (the most in league history), her third WNBA championship, and her second WNBA finals MVP award.
Even if taken in isolation, this would be a historic set of achievements. But that was far from the extent of Wilson’s 2025 résumé, which was buttressed by the new heights of cultural impact she attained away from the basketball court. Wilson presided over arguably the most coveted and successful signature sneaker launch of the year. Her A’One shoe, which had been years in the making with Nike, was not only an instant sellout but also an instant cultural hit, underscoring both her popularity and marketability as an athlete well beyond the realm of women’s hoops.
‘Business Is Booming’: How A’ja Wilson Built Her Signature Nike Deal
That momentum grew tenfold with the viral success of “Teaching the Pro,” the award-winning Malia Obama–directed A’One campaign famous for its “A’ja Wilson’s On Top” line, which blended joyful cinematic storytelling with Wilson’s unmistakable presence. The A’One rollout also included a mini-show with Issa Rae, in which A’ja walked her through the entire collection, sparing no details on the design process and inspiration behind each piece.
“I barely slept the night before the launch [of the A’One] because I was both excited and nervous,” Wilson told me. When I saw the notifications that the shoes sold out almost instantly, I was blown away.”
The past year has also seen A’ja Wilson become an important front-row fixture on the global fashion week calendar — a space that athletes, until recently, have struggled to break into. At her first Paris Fashion Week Men’s in January, for example, she was a prominent VIP at prestigious shows including Sacai, Doublet and Kid Super. Working in close tandem with stylist Casey iCon Billingsley, Wilson has crafted memorable looks for a flurry of high-profile public appearances, from her Jennifer Hudson Show debut in a tailored green look to a range of eye-catching tunnel walk looks throughout her latest championship-winning WNBA season.
“The bond Casey and I have built as a stylist and muse is something special and clearly executed in the clothes,” says Wilson, speaking exclusively to OffBall. “He understands my proportions, my need to feel comfortable in what I wear, and he still brings that high-fashion energy that makes me feel unstoppable.”
It’s the sheer breadth of Wilson’s interests and impact in various sporting and cultural arenas that made her a standout candidate as the inaugural OffBall25 MVP.
“Athletes aren’t strangers to juggling multiple projects, but few do it as seamlessly and with such magnetism as A’ja,” says Ashtyn Butuso, my friend and the legendary writer of OffBall’s daily newsletter and also the co-founder of Flagrant Mag. “The reason she’s reached such a high level of success in so many industries is that she just holds a special energy that you just want to be close to. You want to watch her, you’ll do anything to know more about her because she is so real and so full of life.”
“Her taste, which is obviously good, but also so relatable, coupled with her on-camera presence, makes her especially suited to innovating in a cultural space. She’s singing Crime Mob, old school Usher, she hates Love & Basketball (the only correct take!). Her ‘Hot Ones’ appearance was a masterclass in how to become beloved,” said Ashtyn.
It’s for these reasons, and so many more, that when we were building the concept of OffBall25, and considering who should be our inaugural MVP — the person who not only leads but helps to shape and inform the list of 25 luminaries — it was A’ja Wilson’s name that kept coming out on top.
Head over to the OffBall25 site to access A’ja’s full Q&A, in which she delves deeper into the evolution of her relationship with fashion, reflects on the success of her A’One signature sneaker, and reveals her two MVP picks from the inaugural OffBall25 list.
That’s all for today, friends. Thanks for coming along for the ride. And thanks to Alright Studios and Nike for their great partnership on OffBall25.
See you next time,
DYM