Caitlin Clark has been the talk of the basketball world for the last few months, especially after she broke the all-time NCAA scoring record. Clark has been enjoying the fruits of her growing superstardom since then. The Indiana Fever rookie was expectedly drafted #1 overall in the recently concluded WNBA Draft. Despite Iowa’s disappointing loss in the NCAA Finals, Clark recently signed a lucrative shoe deal with Nike. However, her shoe deal is already caught up in controversies and NBA veteran Matt Barnes had to recently step in to provide some perspective on the issue.
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The controversy started when The Athletic reported that Clark and Nike are closing in on a signature shoe deal. Upon completion, she will become only the third active WNBA player, after Sabrina Ionescu and Breanna Stewart, with a signature shoe deal. While this would surely be a great jump for Clark, who has signed an underwhelming WNBA contract, many fans believe that such a deal is disrespectful to other great WNBA players. They believe that it’s unfair that arguably the best player in the WNBA, A’ja Wilson, doesn’t have a shoe deal, but Clark does as a rookie.
Barnes took to his Instagram to put things into perspective while the fans outraged on the internet. He said, “There’s no question that the best player in the WNBA should have her own shoe, but at the same time, Caitlin Clark is a rockstar.” The 44-year-old argued that Clark has been the most influential female basketball player in a long time, if not ever. For that reason, people shouldn’t question her receiving a Nike deal. It’s a natural business decision for any major company to make. However, Barnes also believes that Wilson deserves her own shoe, and someone should cut that check for her.
No matter how we look at it, it’s obvious that Wilson is more than deserving to have her own signature line. In the 40 games that she played last season, the Las Vegas Aces star averaged 22.8 points, 9.5 rebounds, 2.2 blocks, 1.6 assists and 1.4 steals. Other than that, she has won two WNBA titles, two league MVP titles, one Finals MVP title, and was awarded the Best WNBA Player ESPY Award last year.
A’ja Wilson commented on Caitlin Clark’s shoe deal
Shams Charania of The Athletic reported that the Clark-Nike deal is expected to close at around $20 million. He said on Up & Adams, “I’m told it’s well beyond $10 million…I think it’s fair to say that it’s above $20 million. Now how above? We’ll see when we get the final numbers, I’m not one to speculate.” It seems like Wilson is not much bothered by major corporations snubbing her regarding a shoe deal.
She posted a cryptic message on X, “Always remember what is delayed is not denied.” According to rumors, a signature shoe deal between Nike and Wilson is in the making. However, no major progress has been made yet, which is why there’s been no official announcement of the same.
