Not long ago, women\u2019s sneakers were an afterthought, at best\u2014and not thought of at all, at worst.<\/p>\n
But with the rising popularity of the WNBA and women\u2019s college basketball, these athletes are getting the respect they deserve.<\/p>\n
Catilin Clark has a deal with Nike, and her signature is imminent. Breanna Stewart is with Puma, and Sabrina Ionescu has had three signature releases already with Nike. Add in Rickea Jackson\u2019s partnership with Skechers, plus Jacy Sheldon\u2019s deal with HOLO Footwear, and all these collaborations are becoming too much to keep up with.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s what we call a good problem.<\/p>\n
A\u2019ja Wilson\u2019s A\u2019Two is now the signature standard<\/p>\n
Things weren\u2019t always this way, and A\u2019ja Wilson is a perfect example.<\/p>\n
For many years, her fans demanded that Nike release a signature sneaker for the superstar. Of course, the release was inevitable, and when it finally arrived, it lived up to the hype.<\/p>\n
Wilson finally got her own sneaker and a logo to match. And, just as her fans expected, it was a massive success.<\/p>\n
Wilson not only had a successful sneaker launch, she also added another ring to her wardrobe, winning the 2025 WNBA championship. And now, she\u2019ll be adding another sneaker to her closet with the A\u2019Two.<\/p>\n
In a statement released by Nike<\/a>, Wilson spoke about the sequel to her debut shoe:<\/p>\n The A\u2019One was a journey \u2014 a real blessing<\/p>\n It did exactly what it was meant to do and put people on notice. The A\u2019Two is a level up of that strong foundation. It\u2019s bigger, bolder and even more me. I poured my whole heart into the shoe and the collection \u2014 creating something that everyone can continue to feel a part of, from the girlies to the kids to the fellas.<\/p>\n It may have been frustrating that the best player on the planet had to wait so long for these off-the-court benefits, but good things take time. Wilson now has it all and has broken the glass ceiling on what is possible for women basketball players everywhere.<\/p>\n Jordan Brand jumps on the Azzi Fudd opportunity<\/p>\n Now that the momentum has built, players are getting attention from brands sooner and sooner.<\/p>\n UConn superstar Azzi Fudd recently announced her NIL deal with Jordan Brand. She\u2019s now part of a company that features other women\u2019s basketball stats, like her teammate Sarah Strong and former UConn greats in Napheesa Collier and Gabby Williams, along with NBA stars Luka Don\u010di\u0107 and Jayson Tatum.<\/p>\n Previously, Fudd was signed to Under Armour\u2019s Curry Brand.<\/p>\n That deal has since expired, and now Fudd will be part of the iconic Jumpman brand. Fudd released a statement<\/a> on the new partnership:<\/p>\n I grew up watching what the Jumpman meant to basketball and to the culture around the game. So becoming part of the Jordan Brand family represents what I am stepping into and the greatness that I aspire to be.<\/p>\n The fact that Fudd already has so many suitors represents the growth that\u2019s already happening in women\u2019s basketball. Soon, the idea that a player like Wilson would ever go multiple years without a signature sneaker will be laughable and a thing of the past.<\/p>\n In the present, Wilson proved that even a delay couldn\u2019t deny her success. And her second signature shoe shows that while it took some time to get to this point, Wilson is just getting started.<\/p>\n A popular collaboration <\/a>between Nike and TOGETHXR<\/a> created a T-shirt that reads \u201cEveryone Watches Women\u2019s Sports,\u201d and soon the idea that everyone WEARS women\u2019s sports merch\u2014from head to toe\u2014will also be a reality.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Not long ago, women\u2019s sneakers were an afterthought, at best\u2014and not thought of at all, at worst. But…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":527152,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[629],"tags":[49,48,82,630],"class_list":["post-527151","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-wnba","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-sports","tag-wnba"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/527151","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=527151"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/527151\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/527152"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=527151"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=527151"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=527151"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}