It’s 2019, if you’re still sleeping on the WNBA then you need to wake up. The league has grown so much since 1997 and it continues to prove that playing like a girl isn’t a bad thing. Those woke to women’s hoops know that female professional basketball is huge overseas with the Chinese leagues and Euroleague pumping out high quality hoops year after year for decades. With that said, the WNBA easily features the most collective talent in the world with players coming from all over the globe.
The WBA celebrated their annual All-Star Weekend in Vegas to great fanfare. The hosting Las Vegas Aces put on one hell of a show, but their success hasn’t been limited to All-Star festivities. They’re currently tied for the best record in the WNBA (13-6), have multiple All-Stars and are poised to make a title run.
With that said, the hot story of the weekend was Indiana’s Erica Wheeler and her flurry of buckets. Wheeler canned seven 3-pointers and snatched the game’s MVP award; that within itself is amazing, but Wheeler wasn’t supposed to even be there. She worked her tail off as an undrafted nobody to a bonafide star, and Saturday’s game was completely validating for her:
My main goal today was, ‘I want to be unforgettable one we play this game.’ And I think I did that.
Peep some highlights from the game below and some sneaker tings we noticed!
Griner Don’t Play
If you’re like us then you probably noticed something in those highlights – the crazy sneaker game! Brittney Griner rocked every SpongeBob SquarePants x Nike sneaker… yep, every. single. one.
Oh, she had 3 in-game dunks on Saturday too. Beast!
Crew Love
Nike laced up their All-Stars in dummy PE special to the weekend. A lineup of straight up heat was on full display, including the: Kobe 4 Protro, Kyrie 5, KD 12, LeBron 16 and LeBron 16 Low.
Thematically, nothing really carries over from shoe to shoe – they’re all very different from one another. Reception from sneakerheads has shown that the Kyrie 5 and Kobe 4 Protro are the two most popular silhouettes from the collection; and that’s really no surprise. historically, basketball sneakers with bright, bold, colorways tend to do very well with fans. We’re personally all about those Kobe 4s – the shades of pink and orange and perfectly spot on. But the KD 12 shouldn’t be slept on – that one’s a banger too.
Oh hell, they’re all dope, who are we kidding?
This wasn’t the first time Nike’s given their WNBA All-Stars special edition kicks. For All-Star 2018 Nike rolled out an insane fleet of kicks too. Peep them below.
*Pictured: Nike KD 11, Nike Kyrie 4, Nike LeBron 15, Nike Soldier 12, Nike Kobe AD Mid, Nike PG 2
Which collection do you like more, 2018’s or ’19’s? Tell us in the comments section below. Would you cop this year’s pack if released? Stay tuned for more coverage on WNBA kicks!
Nick Engvall
Robbie Falchi
Aaron Nojima