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Shams Charania
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Alexa Philippou
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Alexa Philippou
ESPN
- Covers women’s college basketball and the WNBA
- Previously covered UConn and the WNBA Connecticut Sun for the Hartford Courant
- Stanford graduate and Baltimore native with further experience at the Dallas Morning News, Seattle Times and Cincinnati Enquirer
Las Vegas Aces star A’ja Wilson — a three-time WNBA MVP and two-time league champion — is signing a six-year contract extension with Nike in one of the richest shoe deals for a women’s basketball player, sources told ESPN on Tuesday.
The news comes after Wilson was named to Nike’s roster of signature athletes in May and announced the launch of her signature shoe, the “A’One,” which will be released in spring 2025 prior to the WNBA season.
Wilson’s new deal ranks among the highest-paid shoe endorsements in the sport, alongside those of 2024 WNBA No. 1 draft pick Caitlin Clark, USC star JuJu Watkins and Liberty standout Sabrina Ionescu.
Earlier this year, Clark reportedly signed an eight-year contract worth well over $20 million plus potential bonuses with Nike. Watkins also agreed to a multiyear contract extension with the footwear giant in October. Ionescu debuted her second signature shoe, which has gained popularity in the NBA, with Nike this spring.
In her seventh WNBA season, Wilson, 28, joined an exclusive club of WNBA players — including Lauren Jackson, Sheryl Swoopes and Lisa Leslie — to win MVP three times. She was the first to win the award unanimously since Cynthia Cooper in 1997, the league’s inaugural year.
The former South Carolina national champion broke the league’s single-season scoring and rebounding records in 2024 and became the first player to record 1,000 points in a single campaign, finishing with 1,021 in the regular season.
Wilson also won her second Olympic gold medal this summer with USA Basketball, taking home MVP for that competition too.
