When $12 million worth Dawn Staley thanked Sheryl Swoopes for gifting a part of her legacy with $114.99 billion company: “They magically appeared”

Dawn Staley and Sheryl Swoopes have a lot in common, having won and achieved a lot throughout their basketball careers. One of those things that the South Carolina head coach, who is worth $12 million (according to Forbes), shares with the WNBA legend is having a pair of Nike signature shoes.

In an episode of the "NETLIFE with Dawn Staley" podcast uploaded to YouTube in March 2022, Staley had Swoopes on as a special guest. They talked about the latter's signature shoe, the Air Swoopes.

During her WNBA career from 1997 to 2011, Swoopes was the first player in league history to don her own specialized shoe. The original version came out in 1995, and Nike, which has a market cap of $114.99B (as per Forbes), made seven other iterations of the shoe throughout her career.

Staley, who also designed two shoes with Nike in the late 1990s, talked about the reaction she had to the Air Swoopes getting re-released to the public while getting a humorous reply from Swoopes.

"You were the first female to get a signature shoe with the Air Swoopes. They just re-released them, you know, I had to hit you up. I said, 'Funk, I need some. Can you send me some?' Budda Boom! They magically appeared on my doorstep. So I thank you for that," Staley said.

"Listen, if Dawn Staley is hitting me up, talking about, 'I need a shoe,' like, am I gonna be like, 'Nah,' so I'm still waiting on my Gamecocks gear, though. I'm putting that out there so now I know what's coming," Swoopes replied.

A'ja Wilson asked Dawn Staley for Sheryl Swoopes' number

Dawn Staley had the privilege of coaching a player currently viewed by many as one of the best in the WNBA, namely A'ja Wilson.

Wilson achieved individual accolades and championships at both the collegiate and professional levels, the former directly involving Staley. However, the Las Vegas Aces star made a request to her former coach before Game 1 of the 2023 WNBA Finals.

"She's probably going to kill me for saying this, but it actually brought me to tears. She texted me probably a week ago, that was before Game 1 of the Finals, and she asked me for Sheryl Swoopes' number. She said, 'I need her number because I want to know how to repeat,'" Staley told CBS Sports.

"It's bittersweet because we lost our back-to-back championship. We didn't win it [her] last year in the NCAA tournament, so I can't be that, I can't give her what that feels like. But I'm glad I got Sheryl's number in my phone to pass it on to A'ja so A'ja can get the very thing that she wants."

Fortunately for Wilson, she helped the Aces succeed in winning the championship for the second straight year. She will continue to have star performances, as Dawn Staley played a major role in developing her into the star fans know in the present day.