"Nike needs to fire a lot of people" - WNBA fans irate as Caitlin Clark fails to get signature line of sneakers despite second PE

Caitlin Clark has risen to be one of, if not the most popular, women’s basketball stars the sport has seen. After a successful WNBA debut season where she won Rookie of the Year and steered the Indiana Fever to the playoffs, Clark is set for great things in her second year, including another player-exclusive shoe.

Nike is expected to release Clark’s player-exclusive Jordan 5 and 6 Protro to mark her sophomore year in the WNBA. The first shoe will be released on June 1, two weeks into the regular season, and the latter will be released on October 1, around the end of the season.

However, some fans aired their dismay at Nike’s prerogative of creating Clark’s own signature sneaker line, failing to tap into the Fever’s guard popularity. A fan even called for the brand to expedite the creation of Clark’s first-ever signature shoe line.

“Nike needs to fire a lot of people. And yea they could easily fast track a custom shoe for her, she really should have had one in college,” one fan said.

“Not Having a CC Shoe Drop After Thanksgiving to Have It Run into Christmas Shopping is Absolutely Malpractice,” another fan wrote.

“Elliott Hill has been a failure so far imo.,” one fan said, referring to the CEO of Nike.

Meanwhile, other fans were more understanding of the brand’s choice of withholding Clark’s signature line, as they have also usually done this with some popular NBA stars.

“Swoosh typically does this for players no matter the caliber. Tatum. Luka. Paul George. Morant. All wore Kobe’s for several seasons before getting their own signature,” one fan said.

“Maybe they’re still working on it but I can’t imagine she won’t have one,” another fan wrote.

“I'm okay with the signature shoe coming out later. I want them time spent on her logo & marketing so it's not ass,” one fan added.

Clark averaged 19.2 points, 5.7 rebounds, 8.4 assists and 1.3 steals per game last season, putting her among the best players in the league.

She was also credited with drawing record numbers last year for the WNBA. Clark was also named TIME magazine’s Athlete of the Year in 2024.

Nike CEO revealed Clark’s signature shoe won’t come until 2026

While there is a clamor for Nike to release Caitlin Clark’s signature shoes, the brand is not expected to have them in public until 2026, according to reports about its CEO, Elliott Hill.

This comes after Clark signed an eight-year, $28 million endorsement deal with Nike in August.

The deal included a release of her first-ever signature shoe line, following the likes of A’ja Wilson and Sabrina Ionescu, among others.

Clark has been with Nike since her collegiate days with Iowa, where she signed a likeness deal that expired in the 2023-2024 season.