Nike Inc.’s Jordan Brand has signed many athletes to signature sneaker deals. These are the highest-tier arrangements, with players getting a shoe and apparel with their own logo. Some are basketball legends: Kobe Bryant, Kevin Durant, LeBron James. More recently, though, some are elite talents whose careers haven’t reached the same heights. Ja Morant has had trouble off the court—the NBA suspended him for displaying firearms on social media. Zion Williamson has dealt with injuries, Devin Booker has played well for an inconsistent team, and Luka Dončić and Jayson Tatum had forgettable NBA Finals appearances.
This isn’t to say Nike is in trouble. The company has successful signature lines with James and Durant, and a deal with Vanessa Bryant lets Nike release her late husband’s line. Still, the hottest sneaker this year is from Adidas AG—the AE1, the signature shoe of Minnesota Timberwolves star Anthony Edwards. The “Ant-Man,” a charismatic trash-talker who’s known for nasty dunks as well as draining 3-pointers, has starred in goofy ads for the sneakers. In May, Foot Locker Inc. said it was the retailer’s fastest-growing signature franchise. Other brands have had their moments too. The Oklahoma City Thunder’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, the reigning MVP, wore Converse during the NBA Finals. The next biggest name on the court was Tyrese Haliburton, who has a shoe with Puma SE.
These days, Nike has more to celebrate in the women’s game. It’s part of a corporate turnaround being overseen by new chief executive officer Elliott Hill, who’s trying to fix the company after it relied too much for too long on a retro streetwear strategy. “It makes sense that they are going after this, especially given the explosion in popularity that the WNBA has experienced,” says Beth Goldstein, a footwear industry analyst at Circana, a market research company. “Women’s sports in general is a clear growth opportunity.”
WNBA stars Sabrina Ionescu, A’ja Wilson and Caitlin Clark have all signed with Nike. Ionescu and Wilson have been part of the last two league championships, and expectations are that Clark, last year’s No. 1 draft pick, will eventually win titles too. Ionescu, a guard for the New York Liberty, was the first pick in the 2020 draft, and Nike signed her that night. Her first sneaker, the Sabrina 1, was released in 2023. The Sabrina 2, which came out in summer 2024, is more prevalent on the court than shoes from Durant, Edwards, James and Steph Curry, according to KixStats.com, which tracks what sneakers players wear in-game. The only shoe that’s more popular is Nike’s Kobe 6 Protro.
Wilson, a center for the Las Vegas Aces, signed with Nike on the night she was drafted first in 2018. It’s common for young players in both leagues to wear an existing brand model and then, in time, get a signature line. But in April 2024, a month before Wilson’s was announced, Nike broke the news that it was signing Clark to an eight-year, $28 million signature deal—meaning she’d be on the fast track to getting her own shoe. This led to controversy, with critics suggesting that Nike was prioritising White players over Black ones. (The WNBA is 70 percent Black.) “It was very hard for me to navigate, only because, in the back of my mind, I’m like, ‘Yes, I know a shoe’s coming, but I really have nothing to share,’” Wilson told the New York Times.
Nike didn’t respond directly to the criticism. Instead, Wilson announced her signature sneaker, the A’One, wearing a hoodie that read “of course I have a shoe dot com.” The link led to a site with pictures of her designing it. The inaugural colour way, which was released in May, sold out in minutes. As I was walking around WNBA All-Star weekend in Indianapolis, the A’One was the most popular sneaker I saw on adults and kids.
A deal with Clark was the most sought-after in women’s basketball history. She took meetings with Adidas and Under Armour’s Curry Brand—Curry even participated in the pitch meetings. But Clark ultimately chose Nike, with whom she had a name, image and likeness deal in college. “Caitlin is the No. 1 player in the sport,” says Bob Dorfman, a sports marketing analyst. “She’s the icon, the role model—all the girls want to be her. I think because of that, her shoe is going to take off.”
Clark’s shoe, which is slated to be released next spring, has been in development for months. A person close to the creative process, who requested anonymity because they’re not authorised to talk about ongoing projects, says Nike wants to release the sneaker shortly before the 2026 season starts in May. Originally, Nike targeted the 2024 holiday season, but leadership changes, Clark’s groin injury this season and production delays pushed back the date, the person says. Nike unveiled Clark’s signature logo, two interwoven Cs, on Aug. 25.
In the meantime, she’s wearing a Kobe 5 Protro inspired by the red, blue and yellow colours of the Indiana Fever; online, it’s reselling for twice its $190 retail price. Another Kobe 5 colour way, based on Clark’s Rookie of the Year award, will be released next year as well.
Nike doesn’t have a monopoly on WNBA deals. Cameron Brink, the second pick in 2024, and Angel Reese, the seventh, signed elsewhere: Reese followed fellow Louisiana State University alum and Hall of Famer Shaquille O’Neal to Reebok, where he once had a shoe. Brink is the first women’s basketball player on New Balance’s roster. Reese’s sneaker releases in September, and with no Nike signature shoe scheduled for the fall, it should get attention. “Athletes have become celebrities, with social media giving players a platform to reach so many more people than in the past, so more athletes are in the public eye,” Goldstein says.
The question going forward, for Nike and other companies invested in the women’s game, is if they’ll stick with it. Nike had relationships with an earlier generation of WNBA stars—Diana Taurasi, Elena Delle Donne—before ending its partnerships in 2006 because of low demand. In the modern era, Puma has the oldest relationship, with New York Liberty forward Breanna Stewart on the Stewie sneaker, the first version of which was released in 2022. But what if the enthusiasm of the Clark era wanes? Will the marketing money still be there? (Nike didn’t respond to a request for comment for this story.)
For now, it doesn’t seem as if there’s reason to worry. Nike’s commitment to women’s basketball is deep. Last year it signed University of Southern California star JuJu Watkins to “one of the richest shoe endorsement deals in women’s basketball,” according to ESPN. (How much it’s worth is unclear; no one wants their deal to be compared with Clark’s.) Watkins, a phenom who scored the most points by a freshman in Division I history in the 2023-24 season, has some time before she gets a signature shoe. She can’t even declare for the WNBA draft until 2027.