Latest news with #NikeA'One
Yahoo
21-05-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Former WNBA MVP Shared a Wholesome Moment With A'ja Wilson
The Connecticut Sun couldn't get their first win of the 2025 WNBA season on Tuesday. Against the Las Vegas Aces, the Sun struggled and fell to a 0-2 record following an 87-62 defeat. The Aces were led by A'ja Wilson, who had a strong game with 22 points, 10 rebounds and four assists. Defensively, Wilson was a menace on the floor with her three steals and two blocks. She led the way for Las Vegas to secure their first win of the new year and have a 1-1 record. Advertisement The Sun, on the other hand, didn't have the best performance. They were led by veteran star and 2012 MVP Tina Charles. The eight-time All-Star had 20 points and five rebounds. Charles was the only player to score at least 20 points for Connecticut. Las Vegas Aces center A'ja Wilson reacts after a play against the Connecticut Sun at Mohegan Sun Butler II-Imagn Images After the game, the two star players shared a moment on the court. Charles approached the three-time MVP and asked for her autograph. The 36-year-old frontcourt star handed a pair of Nike A'One, Wilson's signature shoes. Wilson was more than happy to sign the pair. The two had a wholesome moment as they talked and smiled at each other. In the end, they shared a hug and took a photo to commemorate their interaction. In the new campaign, Charles is back with the organization that drafted her. She won the Most Valuable Player award with the Sun during her third season in the league. Since being traded from Connecticut, the future Hall of Famer has played for the New York Liberty, Washington Mystics, Phoenix Mercury, Seattle Storm and Atlanta Dream. Related: Sun Rookie Was Emotional After Her WNBA Debut
Straits Times
15-05-2025
- Sport
- Straits Times
The best player in the WNBA now has her own shoe, and it took a long time
Las Vegas Aces' No. 22 A'ja Wilson poses for a portrait during the team's media day in Las Vegas, Nevada, on May 8. PHOTOS: AFP The best player in the WNBA now has her own shoe, and it took a long time NEW YORK – A'ja Wilson, a centre for the Las Vegas Aces, is widely acknowledged as the best player in the WNBA (Women's National Basketball Association). She is something like the league's on-court answer to LeBron James or Michael Jordan. She was the WNBA's rookie of the year in 2018, was named league MVP in 2020 and 2022, and won a championship in 2022. But while she racked up achievement after achievement, one marker of basketball stardom eluded her: the shoe. If Wilson were playing in the NBA, she would have long ago received a signature shoe, the on-court footwear designed with and for a player. More than two dozen NBA players have them. For years, marketeers largely ignored the women's game. But her star has risen alongside that of the league she plays in, and in early 2023, American athletic footwear and apparel corporation Nike finally told her that it planned to create a signature shoe for her. 'I probably cried for a couple of days,' she said. Girls wearing A'ja Wilson's signature shoe, the A'One by Nike, during a basketball clinic at an event to promote the footwear in Columbia, South Carolina, on March 16. PHOTO: NORA WILLIAMS/NYTIMES The plan remained secret, and her fans got angry as Wilson continued to dominate on the court – winning another championship in 2023 – without any news of a shoe. They were appeased last May, however, when Nike announced that it would release her signature shoe, the A'One, this month, alongside an apparel collection. The A'One went on sale last week, with a Pink A'ura version, making Wilson the first black WNBA player to have a signature shoe since 2011. A'ja Wilson of the Las Vegas Aces in her Nike A'One signature shoes as she practises during the team's first day of training camp in Henderson, Nevada, on April 27. PHOTO: AFP 'It's time for people to have a shoe and see a shoe from someone like me, considering it hasn't been done in a long, long time and it comes from a black female athlete in this world,' she said. 'I'm grateful.' The 28-year-old was speaking in the Saint-Germain-des-Pres neighbourhood of Paris in a hotel suite overlooking Le Bon Marche, the famous department store. Her 1.93m frame was dressed in the athletes' off-court uniform of sweats, with jewellery in her ears and on both sides of her nose. She was there on behalf of Nike. It was men's fashion week, so outside the hotel, photographers waited behind a rope in case celebrities emerged. WNBA players are bigger stars now than they ever were before, arguably with more cultural impact than they had even in the league's heady early days in the 1990s, when players such as Lisa Leslie and Sheryl Swoopes became household names. Last season, interest in the league spiked, buoyed by the popularity of rookies Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese. Brands rushed to play catch-up. That resurgence has happened in the shoe industry too, where brands have struggled to monetise products connected to female athletes. The first WNBA player to have a signature shoe made for her was Swoopes in 1995. Nike's Air Swoopes had a tab on the back that made it easy to put on with the long fingernails she liked to sport. Nike created seven editions of it , the most it has made for any female player to date. Women's models make up a small portion of the basketball shoe business, said Mr Matt Powell, a retail analyst with BCE Consulting, in part because many female basketball players prefer wearing men's shoes. 'It costs a tremendous amount of money to develop a shoe and then to build that shoe,' Mr Powell said. 'If sales are not going to be huge, and that is the history of what we've seen, any brand is like, 'How much of an investment can we make here?'' That all started to change when women's college basketball became more popular. Social media allowed players to create personal brands, and in 2021, the NCAA shifted its rules to allow athletes to capitalise on name, image and likeness (NIL) deals, increasing their visibility with commercials and other advertisements. Broadcast channels helped too. ESPN began televising the NCAA women's tournament in 1996 but did not air the championship game on its broadcast network, ABC, until 2023. Reese's Louisiana State team defeated Clark's Iowa for that title, drawing nearly 10 million viewers. The 2024 championship game drew 18.9 million viewers, beating the men's championship game by about 4 million, according to Nielsen. That interest has trickled up into the WNBA as the players moved there too. In July 2023, Nielsen reported a rise in interest generally in women's sports. It also said surveyed viewers were frustrated by a lack of access to live women's sports and a lack of media coverage. 'Sneaker companies are always reactive to the public, and they're always responsive to what they perceive as popular at a given time,' said Dr Brandon Wallace, an assistant professor at Indiana University who has studied the industry. Las Vegas Aces' A'ja Wilson takes a shot during the second quarter against the Dallas Wings during a pre-season game in South Bend, Indiana, on May 2. PHOTO: AFP Wilson has not shied away from discussing the impact of race on why she is sometimes called not marketable. 'It's 100 per cent about race,' she said. 'And it's one of those things where we can sit there and say that all the time, but there's going to always be someone that's like, 'Well, no, you're just making it about race.'' As new opportunities have come her way, Wilson has used them to cultivate her image. She has especially leaned into the fashion world's recent embrace of her; Vogue and GQ, for instance, featured her recently in a spread related to the Met Gala in New York City. A'ja Wilson attends the Time Women of the Year Gala on Feb 25, 2025 in West Hollywood, California. PHOTO: GETTY IMAGES VIA AFP When she went on tour in 2024 for her book, Dear Black Girls, her team approached fashion designer Sergio Hudson – who has dressed former first lady Michelle Obama, former vice-president Kamala Harris and singer-songwriters Beyonce, Rihanna and Jennifer Lopez – to outfit her. He knew Wilson was stylish, and he liked the idea of supporting a WNBA player, especially one from his home state, South Carolina. 'When I saw her walk out in the first outfit we made for her, I was like, 'This girl is a star,'' Hudson said. 'At that time, it wasn't how it is now,' he said. 'It wasn't that long ago, but it's like overnight, things have shifted and the WNBA girls are prime celebrities, and everybody wants to dress them.' NYTIMES Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
NBC Sports
08-05-2025
- Entertainment
- NBC Sports
A'ja shoe rollout with Nike has been 'intentional'
Khristina Williams joins Natalie Esquire to praise the rollout for A'ja Wilson's signature Nike A'One shoe, appreciating how personal and intentional the ad was and the homages paid to black girlhood experiences.
Yahoo
07-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Nike's A'ja Wilson Ads Are an Ode to Girlhood and Community
Nike champions the singular talent of Las Vegas Aces basketball star A'ja Wilson, as the brand amps up its athlete-focused storytelling amid a turnaround plan. The campaign, created by agency Wieden+Kennedy Portland, promotes Wilson's first signature shoe drop, the Nike A'One, which went on sale yesterday (May 6) and reportedly sold out in less than five minutes after release. Nike's films spotlight Wilson as well as the community rooting for her. The first ad, "One of A\Kind," is a love letter to girlhood and illustrates how Wilson's greatness and legacy extend beyond the court. Her fans and wider community break into a rhyme honoring the player. Jenn Nkiru directed the spot through production company Iconoclast. In "Teaching the Pro," a girl teaches Wilson a hand clapping game that will be familiar to children past and present. Though the game typically follows the rhyme Miss Mary Mack, Wilson and the girl clap to lyrics about the athlete's greatness: "A'ja Wilson's on top, top, top / Can't take her spot, spot, spot." Malia Ann Obama, daughter of former President Barack Obama, directed the film through Iconoclast. A third spot, "A'One from Day One," which interviews people from Wilson's hometown of Columbia, South Carolina, will air on May 9. A push to win again Nike's campaign starring Wilson comes as it executes its "Win Now" turnaround plan to return its brand portfolio to relevance, double down on storytelling, and reverse years of sluggish sales. The company's overall quarterly revenue declined by 9% year-over-year to $11.3 billion. This week, Nike shook up its leadership team, with Heidi O'Neill, president of consumer, product, and brand, set to leave the business after 26 years. It also made several promotions, including CMO Nicole Hubbard Graham taking on the additional role of evp. CEO Elliott Hill, who returned to Nike to take the top job in October, said in the company's Q3 earnings call that Nike is "on the right path" and "made an impact this quarter leading with sport–through athlete storytelling, performance products, and big sports moments." That focus on athlete storytelling was evident in Nike's highly-lauded return to the Super Bowl in February after a 27-year hiatus. "So Win" put women athletes center stage and also featured Wilson, among others. Nike has also recently announced partnerships with Kim Kardashian's Skims and beverage brand Kool-Aid. Last week, it sparked backlash for London Marathon billboards that used the phrase "Never again," which is associated with Holocaust remembrance. The ads continued its "Winning Isn't Comfortable" campaign that began during the Paris 2024 Olympics.
Black America Web
07-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Black America Web
Malia Obama Directs A'ja Wilson's Latest Nike Ads
Black America Web Featured Video CLOSE Source: Nike / via li_jade_li Malia Obama is carving a new path in the world of television and film. First, she penned an episode of Swarm , the edgy Prime Video series starring Dominique Fishback as an obsessed fan, then she helmed her first short film, The Heart , which premiered at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival. Now, she's behind the camera again in a high-profile campaign for WNBA star A'ja Wilson, who recently launched her signature Nike A'One sneaker. As Malia Ann, the 26-year-old daughter of Barack and Michelle Obama captured two vignette videos for the social media promos and is credited as one of the directors for the overall campaign. Malia is shown in one photo holding a camera and directing Wilson and a young actress who's part of the commercial. In it, the actress shows Wilson how to play a hand-clapping game of Miss Mary Mack by recounting all the high points of her career. Obama also helmed an interview with Wilson at Big T's Bar-B-Que in her hometown of Columbia, South Carolina, where Wilson starred for the Gamecocks. Wilson, the WNBA's three-time MVP won two championships with the Las Vegas Aces and is one of the league's most bankable players. She announced last season that she'd be releasing a signature shoe. Her Nike A'Ones in the Pink A'ura colorway officially launch on Tuesday, May 6, on the Nike SNKRS app. They're listed at $110. 'When you see young people, young girls and boys want to wear your shoe, want to be a part of your journey and your legacy, that's what it's truly all about for me,' she told People earlier this year at the women's Final Four. 'So I will try not to cry, but it's a big moment.' If you're wondering why Malia is credited as Malia Ann for her film career, it's because, as her father explained, she doesn't want to trade off her famous name. Some 'nepo babies' as famous offspring are often called, embrace their birthright, but others want to succeed on their own terms. 'I was all like, 'You do know they'll know who you are,'' Obama said about his daughters on The Pivot podcast in 2024. 'And she's all like, 'You know what? I want them to watch it that first time and not in any way have that association.' So I think our daughters go out of their way to not try to leverage that.' Get a better look at the A'One below. SEE ALSO Malia Obama Directs A'ja Wilson's Latest Nike Ads was originally published on
