It looks as if A’ja Wilson and Nike are going to be aligned for a long time.
ESPN senior NBA insider Shams Charania reported via Twitter (X) on Tuesday that Wilson is signing a six-year contract extension with Nike. What’s more, Charania stated it is “one of the richest shoe deals for a women’s basketball player.”
FN has reached out to Nike for comment.
In May, Nike revealed Wilson as its next signature athlete, and confirmed her signature collection will be released globally in 2025. Also, the Swoosh revealed the name of her debut shoe: A’One.
While at WNBA All-Star Weekend in Phoenix in July, the Las Vegas Aces star spoke exclusively with FN during her cover shoot. At the time, the three-time WNBA Most Valuable Player revealed what it means to her to be the first Black woman with a signature basketball shoe since Adidas launched its last look for Candace Parker in 2011, the Ace Versatility.
“To be the next Black woman with a signature shoe, oh my gosh, I am so excited for next year. I can’t contain it,” Wilson told FN. “It’s such a big moment. When [the news] first dropped, Coach [Dawn] Staley hit me, Sheryl [Swoopes] hit me, Lisa [Leslie] hit me and they were all like, ‘You deserve this.’ To have greats, Hall of Famers like that say that to me, I was like, ‘God, thank you.'”
In October, during a press event at Nike’s headquarters in New York City, Wilson opened up about the pressures and joys of having a signature shoe.
“There is pressure when it comes to competing with other brands or just wanting to [have] the best shoe, but at the same time you don’t want the message to get lost, you don’t want the storytelling to get lost. That’s tough because there are a lot of great ideas,” Wilson said. “We have some dope shoes out there. You don’t want your shoe to be just another one. You want longevity, you want a shoe to have a name after a game you had, like the [Air Jordan 12] ‘Flu Game.’ That type of substance is a lot of pressure.”
She continued, “Sitting at the table with your team, having those hard conversations, that caught me by surprise. I thought they were going to be like, ‘Here’s a shoe, we’re just going to put your signature on it’ [Laughs.] But no, they were like, ‘We’re going to break it down,’ and I didn’t think I was ready for that, but now I am and I am so excited and thankful for my team.”
Peter Verry is the Senior News and Features Editor for Athletic and Outdoor at Footwear News. He oversees coverage of the two fast-paced and ultracompetitive markets, which includes conducting in-depth interviews with industry leaders and writing stories on sneakers and outdoor shoes. He is a lifelong sneaker addict (and shares his newest purchases via @peterverry on Instagram) and spends most of his free time on a trail. He holds an M.A. in journalism from Hofstra University and can be reached at peter.verry@footwearnews.com.
