WNBA insider speculates factor behind Caitlin Clark's Nike signature shoe delay

Indiana Fever rookie sensation Caitlin Clark signed a lucrative endorsement deal with footwear and apparel giant Nike earlier this year but interestingly a signature shoe of the do-it-all guard is yet to be released.

As per podcaster Ethan Strauss(via NBA Central on X, formerly Twitter), which quoted an anonymous source, the reason behind Nike has yet to release a signature shoe for Clark is because the brand wants newly-minted WNBA MVP A'ja Wilson of the Las Vegas Aces to have hers come first to avoid any unwanted talk.

The post read:

"Based on conversations with people in the know, it indeed has something to do with WNBA MVP and Nike athlete A'ja WIlson. But beyond Wilson, it's about a culture at the company that's more concerned with quelling noise rather than making it, as Nike once used to."

Check out the post below:

Caitlin Clark was inked to a lucrative deal by Nike back in April, reportedly valued at $28 million for eight years. Their partnership, however, has been ongoing since 2022 when the former Iowa Hawkeye standout attracted attention for her skills on the court in the collegiate ranks.

The deal at that time received criticism from some quarters who questioned the brand's decision to sign Clark yet left established athletes like Wilson with no signature shoe deal. No sooner after getting flak, the global brand signed the Aces superstar to her own deal.

Meanwhile, as she awaits her own signature Nike shoe to come out, Caitlin Clark has been rocking a lot of player-exclusive Nike Kobe sneakers of late.

Retail expert suggests Caitlin Clark shoe should be designed for women's feet

As the basketball world awaits the release of Caitlin Clark's Nike signature shoe, a retail expert suggested that its design should be women-specific instead of having it made for unisex to fully tap on the popularity of the Indiana Fever player and help grow women's basketball.

In an interview that came out Market Watch back in May, Spurwink River retail expert Matt Powell shared his observation that women's perfomance shoes are simply a sized-down men's product.

He went on to say that with Clark's, Nike has an opportunity to goes against the tide and be a true leader in the industry while advancing women's basketball and sport in general.

"Brands make very few women-specific basketball shoes... A shoe built for a man's foot is really not right for a woman's foot... Nike could show real leadership in women's basketball by making a shoe properly shaped for a woman's foot."

In the WNBA, only five players have signature shoe deals, namely New York's Breanna Stewart (Puma) and Sabrina Ionescu (Nike), Washington's Elena Delle Donne (Nike), Caitlin Clark (Nike) and A'ja Wilson (Nike).