‘Look at the A’ja Wilson Effect:’ Everything the WNBA Star Told FN Before Signing Her New Nike Contract Extension
2024 was good to A’ja Wilson, and after signing a contract extension with Nike, life should be good for the WNBA star for years to come.
FN caught up with the Las Vegas Aces star in July during WNBA All-Star Weekend in Phoenix. At the time, Wilson was midway through a stellar season, a year that would end with several records broken and a third Most Valuable Player award win.
Also, Nike announced the two-time WNBA champion as its next signature athlete.
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A day after news broke of a contract extension with Nike for Wilson, which was reported as a six-year extension that is “one of the richest shoe deals for a women’s basketball player,” FN looks back to its July cover shoot with the megastar athlete. Here are the best quotes from the exclusive conversation.
On Being the First Black Woman With a Signature Basketball Shoe Since Candace Parker
“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. 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.’”
On the Wait to Become a Signature Athlete
“You work your ass off to get where you are, and yet you are still in a situation like, ‘Am I good enough? Am I enough? What do I need to show to you guys?’ I ran into that with Nike. But on the flip side, Nike was like, ‘No, you are enough. You have to trust the process.’”
On Responding to Social Media Chatter That She Only Got a Shoe Deal Because of Caitlin Clark
“The conversation [on social media] was like, ‘Now you have a shoe because of Caitlin.’ No, it was never that. What is for me was always going to be for me, with or without this rookie class. I promise you that. Nike taught me a lot about being patient. My patience was definitely tested, but I’m grateful because trusting that process, I now have a shoe that I’m happy with.”
On Her A’One Sneaker
“When people look at my position in basketball, they think of a big-man shoe, a forward or center shoe. The A’One is not that. It is the complete opposite. It’s very versatile because that is my style of play. And I wanted a shoe that was going to be comfortable and durable for 40 minutes because the last thing I want to worry about on court are my shoes. And it’s a low top.”
On the Disrespect Black Woman Have Faced Historically
“Like Malcolm X said, ‘The most disrespected person in the world is the Black woman.’ Every day you’re fighting a battle. You can wake up and the world hates you or the world loves you. Navigating that is something I’ve started to learn how to do, and I’ve done it vocally, which has really helped me. It helped me realize that I’m not by myself.”
On the Importance of Her Book, ‘Dear Black Girls: How to Be True to You’
“Growing up, it was hard for me to speak on these things because I went to private school with only 5 percent Black kids. I couldn’t have these conversations because no one looked like me. As I got older, I started to be in tune with myself and was like, I don’t care who’s in the room, I’m going to say what I have to say because I need to be heard.”
On the Origins of Her Iconic Single-Leg Sleeve
“I wore it because my leg was not working. … At the University of South Carolina, Coach Staley was strict about our uniform. We weren’t allowed to wear sleeves unless it was medically cleared. In training camp [with the Aces], I was like, ‘Oh my God, my leg is not here today’ — my left leg, the one I use the most because I’m left-handed. So I tried the sleeve, but I cut the other one off because I wasn’t used to wearing sleeves and I hated it.”
On Her Undeniable Impact on Women’s Basketball
“[My agent], Jade [English], was at a regional and she sent a picture. Of the 10 girls on the court, eight of them had one leg sleeve. She was like, ‘Look at the A’ja Wilson effect.’”
On Her Nike Air Force 1 Obsession — and Need for Two Different Sizes
“This is going to sound crazy, but one foot is bigger than the other. I have 11.5 and 11 because I like my Forces snug, but the way that I walk, one shoe will crease, so I’ve got to rotate them because I can’t have them creased.”
On What It Would Take for Pharrell to Recruit Her to Louis Vuitton
“Pharrell could just knock on my door. Knock on my door with one of those iridescent Louis duffels, put an A logo on there and I’m set. I can come to a couple shows, sit there, look all interested in the people walking. It doesn’t take much to make me happy.”
About the Author
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.
