Caitlin Clark fans puzzled as Paige Bueckers gets signature Nike sneaker before WNBA superstar

Caitlin Clark is the most recognizable face in women's basketball, but UConn star Paige Bueckers has a signature Nike shoe before the Indiana Fever superstar.

Bueckers' Nike G.T. Hustle 3 Paige Bueckers Player Edition shoes became available during the 2024 holiday season. The New York Post wrote that this left fans of Caitlin Clark puzzled.

It didn't make sense why Bueckers seemed to leapfrog Clark on the priority list for Nike, but this has been a theme for a while now.

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Clark's fans have urged Nike to speed up the release of her custom sneakers. The WNBA superstar has been spotted in Nike all during the 2024 season and was even seen wearing them while playing golf recently.

This led to an outpouring of demands from her fan base for Nike to expedite the process of the release of her own sneaker line, which was promised as part of her multi-million-dollar deal.

One fan demanded "Shoes now!" on social media, while another suggested Nike would make millions if they released a signature shoe: "You REALLY want to make bank, @Nike? In addition to the Caitlin 1s, drop some Caitlin Golfs as well for good measure. You'll thank me later."

Clark signed an eight-year deal with Nike early in 2024 worth many millions of dollars, but now it seems the relationship between the sportswear giant and the WNBA superstar is starting to fracture.

According to Athlon Sports, Nike hasn't produced one piece of Clark-centered promotional material since she entered the WNBA, with reports by Ethan Strauss suggesting Clark's signature shoe won't be released until 2026.

Nike's refusal to promote the Indiana Fever star, or even congratulate her for winning the WNBA Rookie of the Year award, has angered some fans, with one writing, "So let me get this straight: 1. Nike signed Caitlin Clark to a big deal, but haven't posted a congratulations post for winning ROTY. 2. WNBA haven't posted the ROTY winner either," on social media.

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Some fans were quick to point out that Adidas, Nike's biggest rival in the sportswear world, congratulated Clark before Nike did. This is the latest example of Clark's strange relationship with Nike, let's take a look at some of the previous examples.

Clark's relationship with Nike began during her time at the University of Iowa. The iconic athletic wear company latched on to the prodigal superstar after she could earn money off of her name, image and likeness in college. It was a match made in sports heaven.

After Clark was selected first overall by the Indiana Fever in the 2024 WNBA Draft, Nike wanted to make sure that partnership continued for a long time. According to ESPN, Nike signed Clark to an eight-year deal worth $28 million.

That figure is the richest endorsement deal ever signed by a women's basketball player. ESPN reported that Under Armour and Adidas were also in the running to sign Clark, but Nike wanted to leave no stone unturned.

Included in Clark's deal with Nike was the clause that they would create a signature shoe for the Fever superstar.

There's no indication that Nike is backing out of that promise, but things are taking a little bit longer than expected on that front.

Grant Young of Sports Illustrated wrote on this topic, "While the true reason for the delay with Clark's shoe is unknown, what's for sure is that a lot of money is being left on the table with each passing day that it isn't available to the public." That would seem to be spot-on accurate, as the public would likely gobble up any merchandise that has a unique connection with Clark.

Athlon Sports reported in late May that Nike wasn't sure how to approach Clark's shoe from a schematic standpoint. They pointed out the "big decision" Nike had to make, with regard to developing Clark's shoe as a women's focused product, or one that is suitable for all genders.

Retail industry expert Matt Powell told MarketWatch, "Brands make very few women-specific basketball shoes. A woman's foot is more triangular, forefoot to heel, and her arch tends to be higher than a man's foot. A man's foot tends to be more rectangular, and consequently, a shoe built for a man's foot is really not right for a woman's foot."

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Powell continued, "Nike could show real leadership in women's basketball by making a shoe properly shaped for a woman's foot."

Another speculated reason for the delay in Clark's signature shoe is the fact that it is believed Nike may feel obligated to develop the shoe of three-time MVP and two-time Defensive Player of the Year A'ja Wilson first.

NBA agent and marketer Nate Jones believes appearances are important in this regard. He said on the House of Strauss podcast, "I think a lot of (the delay) has to do with managing everything that they're hearing from athletes, participants, fanbase, and athletes themselves on the WNBA side."

Jones continued, "I got handed lightning in a bottle, and I don't have a shoe for her rookie year. And I'm likely not going to have a shoe for her next year. But I've got the MVP of the league, A'ja Wilson, her shoe is coming out. And it feels like a lot of this is around avoiding upsetting that, right? Like 'hey, she can't go before A'ja.'"

With that said, Jones opined, "Who the heck says she can't go before A'ja? It's business. This isn't about charity... No matter what you think of A'ja Wilson, it's obvious the business opportunity with Caitlin Clark is much more substantial and much less risky. But for whatever reason, she has been put on the backburner."

Ethan Strauss, host of House of Strauss, talked about Nike keeping things calm rather than being a disrupter. "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."

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Clark finished her rookie season as a first-team All-WNBA player. She averaged 19.2 points, 8.4 assists and 5.7 rebounds per game. It's perhaps no coincidence that the WNBA signed an 11-year media deal in July 2024 worth $2.2 billion as reported by ESPN, in the midst of Clark's first professional campaign.