ESPN OTHER 'NINE DIVINE': women who had their own sports footwear lines share their related experiences

Every sneakerhead remembers their first favorite pair of shoes. Though it's been more than two decades in some cases, the short list of WNBA stars who received their own line of shoes during their playing careers can still remember every meeting, detail, and excitement that accompanied the release of their namesake shoes. .

It all started with Sheryl Swoopes' revolutionary Nike Air Swoopes in 1995, with several more following the success of the women's Olympic team in 1996 and the launch of the WNBA in 1997.

"I understand the importance of that moment," Swoopes said. "Not only for me, but for so many other girls and young people who follow me."

From how they found out they'd be getting a sneaker line to their role in the design process to their favorite moment wearing their shoes, these trailblazing women share some of their sneaker memories.

These comments have been edited for brevity and clarity.

How did you find out you would have your own line of sneakers and what was your reaction?

Swoopes: When Nike first approached me, they didn't tell me , 'Hey, we want to give you your own shoe.' The initial conversation was just, 'What do you look for in a basketball shoe?'

They said, 'We're thinking of designing a women's basketball shoe, so we want your input.' I thought that was the coolest. I thought it was for the best. The fact that they were going to design a women's shoe and they qualified me for it, I thought that was pretty cool. So, it went from that conversation to, 'And we're thinking of naming it after you.'

I still didn't realize it. Even hearing that, she didn't know what it meant. They said, 'We're thinking of calling it the Nike Air Swoopes.'

At that moment, I lost my mind!

Rebecca Lobo: I remember my agent saying, 'There's a chance Reebok will give you your own shoe.' And I said, 'Well, that's amazing.' I remember early on they had an ad campaign called 'The Promise'. It was an ad that was in magazines, they put it on t-shirts. It was basically, 'I'm a promise you made to yourself when you were a child and I'm keeping it.'

They wanted to name the shoe 'The Promise'. But they couldn't because when they went to approve it, it was already taken. ...

Because, you'll remember back then, that's when they had Allen Iverson and his shoes were the Question and the Answer. It was never 'The Iversons'. That just wasn't something Reebok was doing at the time. But then they chose 'The Wolf'. And I thought, 'Okay, I like the sound of that.'

Dawn Staley: What Nike did was, right when we were starting to promote and market women, they sat down and talked to us a lot. We sit in Beaverton. We talk about culture. We talk about tennis. ... They really realized that, 'Hey, she kind of knows what she's doing.' They didn't really expect me to give them so much insight.' That's why they gave me that honor. And I think my game was something that people identified with. My game was very flashy... I loved the shoes. I didn't really care what I looked like from the ankles up, growing up in North Philadelphia public housing. As long as my ankles down were nice, new, clean, I really didn't care. And I think that seemed super cool ... and authentic to [Nike].

Michelle - since married - but she's Michelle Brink. Cameron Brink's mother... Cameron Brink plays for Stanford and has won a national championship. His mother was the person who was in my line of Nike shoes. I had numerous conversations with her about my shoe. It was super cool that they approached me. But receiving a shoe line that was so unlikely. It wasn't even a thought. You have goals of winning a national championship or being an Olympian and winning a gold medal. Those are the goals you saw growing up. I haven't seen a better one with a shoe line.

Nikki McCray: The second shoe line deal I signed was with Fila. Grant Hill was the face of Fila and we know how amazing he was as a player. I became the female version on the women's side. They said they wanted to do the shoe line - I was like, 'Wow! This is a dream come true'.

Cynthia Cooper: When I first started playing in the WNBA and came from abroad, everyone was talking about Rebecca Lobo, Sheryl Swoopes and Lisa Leslie. No one really knew who I was and what I had been doing for the last 10 seasons. Nike signed me to a very basic contract and I was just happy to be a Nike athlete. We won a couple of championships, I won a couple of MVP awards, and so we went back to the negotiating table and [Nike] was happy to do it. That's pretty much how the whole concept of giving Cynthia Cooper a shoe line [happened]. It was not written before. I feel like with my game I got a line of Nike shoes. They didn't really know who I was, and of course everyone knows who Nike is. Everybody dreams of having their own line of shoes. But, for me it was a dream come true.

Chamique Holdsclaw: My agent at the time, Lon Babby, contacted me and said, 'Okay, Nike wants to give you your own line of shoes.' I said that? Are you serious?'

Whoa! I was so excited. I'm from Astoria, Queens in New York, and I remember calling all my friends back home. Some of my teammates in Tennessee just couldn't believe it. My name was going to be on a shoe. It was just such an exciting time, and I just knew that it would pave the way for many young women to have the opportunity. I knew of the impact with younger children. Being able to walk into a store, sometimes women's shoes didn't have the same color palette and were a little different. Now, this is a person on TV, and the girls are excited that they can put them on with their Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) team. They can go and say, 'I want the Holdsclaws,' just like I did with the Swoopes and the Staleys.

Candace Parker:: I say that, unofficially, I've been with Adidas since I was a junior in high school. My team was sponsored by Adidas my junior and senior years, and then going to college was four straight years of Adidas and the three stripes. ...

When I came in with Adidas, it was like a perfect storm and we really were a couple. They seriously wanted to make that dream come true. I was going to be involved, which was exciting. My rookie year, we started planning that next year for the shoe line.

What was your intervention in the design and what did you hope to express?

Swoopes: The crazy thing is that the first shoe is the one I participated in the most. In the second one too, but when I got to the third and fourth, it was more like, 'Okay, here you go Sheryl, here's your shoe.' By that time, they really knew me and they knew my body and my style. They knew what was important to me and what I was looking for. I didn't necessarily have to be involved in every step.

But the first shoe, flying to Portland and having that conversation and going through the whole process. When Nike made a cast of my foot to create my shoe, and now they're selling it, I really feel like everyone who buys and wears that shoe is following in my footsteps.

Lobo: My level of involvement was that Reebok came to me, presented me with some drawings, and said, 'Do you like this?' ... And, 'Do you like this' and I was just like, 'Yeah, I really like the way that looks... I like the way that looks.' At that time, I had worn his shoes for almost a year during the 1995-96 season with the Olympic team. So, I knew which styles of his shoes that he had worn I liked. That was more or less how it happened. They were the ones who said, 'With you playing for Liberty, let's make it a blue and orange color palette, because that's going to sell well, and we think that's going to look good.' There was some exchange, some communication. But it was largely them coming up with shoe styles similar to what I had been wearing and found comfortable.

Staley: When Nike does things, they don't just say, 'Hey, let's name this shoe after you.' They say, 'Hey, we want your opinion. ... How do you like this? How do you like that?' They want opinions. And I thought that was super cool. You have that connection to the shoe that you wear and that you promote. I do think my shoe was the coolest of all...the cutest thing the crossover could do. Some people say, 'Women's shoes... ehhh.' But the guys really liked my shoe. To this day, they still like my shoe.

I wanted a white shoe with accents. I wanted white to be the most powerful color, but then when you mix in some color on the tongue and accents all over the shoe, it makes it pop a little better. I wanted a leather shoe. I didn't want nubuck. I wanted leather so you would have a bit of shine. I liked the heel of Zoom. For me, the important thing was comfort.

McCray: They came to my house. They custom made shoes for my feet, so the shoes I was wearing were truly custom compared to what was in the store. I could have brought brand new shoes to every game if I wanted to, but I didn't because I liked to break them in. It was surreal to know that you were part of the process, you have your own shoe, and you can look in your closet and say, 'I want to wear that, that, or that today.' It was pretty cool.

Cooper: It was a special process. [Nike] brought me to Beaverton, Oregon, the world headquarters there. They just wanted to talk to me, get to know me, my personality. I was involved in the whole process, from the moment they interviewed me to the sketches, the design and the color palettes. What I wanted, and what they felt in my personality, was just my journey. I came from a poor neighborhood and the toughness that showed when I came from Watts to a private university, go play abroad and then at 34 years old, start my rookie year in the WNBA. My toughness, my warrior spirit, my determination and perseverance in difficult times - I felt that they wanted to combine all of those things in that shoe.

Holdsclaw: I just remember sitting down and the designer said, 'Think about a rocket, and its power and its fluidity. This is the concept we want.' They put craters and little marks on the side, and I loved it. It was part of my game. I had impact, but I also had flow. I loved! When he said 'fluid', that's where we continue.

Parker: There's another guy, and his name is CP3 [Chris Paul], so we definitely didn't want to get that confused. He was in the league first, so I said, 'Okay, I'll give you the name for now.' 'Ace' was so lonely, I always ended up eventually correcting people on how to spell my name, and it kind of became who I was. We start from there with the logo.

Having your own tennis line, what impact did it have while playing?

Swoopes: Growing up, I didn't even think about it because it didn't happen. It didn't happen to many athletes, let alone a female athlete. I am a firm believer that representation matters. If you see someone accomplishing or getting things, you can look at that person and say, 'It's possible. Maybe I can do it.' But I didn't have that.

There was Michael Jordan, and he was all I knew. And I was nowhere near Michael Jordan! And I was a woman. I say this jokingly, but the slogan 'Just Do It'' applies to so many things they do. Now, girls can look at me and say, 'That can happen to her. It can happen to me.'

Wolf: It was emblematic of what was going on at the time. The WNBA was just getting started. There were commercials. If you were watching the NBA Eastern Conference finals, the Western Conference finals, the Finals itself, there were tons of commercials - 'We got next'. The league really promoted the WNBA. And at the same time, there was a lot more attention being paid to these women who were going to play in the WNBA. Athletic shoe lines were just one part of the process we were going through at the time.

Staley: I know Sheryl is a guard and her shoe was made for escorts, but I think my shoe was positionless. You could wear it if you were big. You could wear it if you were a winger. You could show it off if you were a point guard. He had a Jordan vibe. You look at it, and you don't want to like it but you end up loving it because they put it together too. It was just a beautiful shoe. Some women's shoes look like women's shoes. I didn't think my shoe looked like a woman's shoe. It looked like a guy would appreciate it and put it on, even though he would have to buy two sizes larger than what they wore.

McCray: For me, it was about the impact. I recognized how Sheryl's shoe really impacted the lives of young men and women. It was incredible. Being able to say that I was one of the few women who had my own line of athletic shoes, and it was a women's version as well as a men's version. It was awesome. I can't even put it into words. It's the best I've ever felt.

Cooper: When you look at your career, you never think that certain things are going to happen to you. To me, it feels amazing to be a part of a sorority that is only nine of us. For Nike to celebrate my career, by allowing me to be a part of this very exclusive group, is an honor.

Holdsclaw: I don't remember which varsity team it was, but it was a Nike school, and I just remember that half the team on TV wore my shoe. I remember saying, 'Oh my gosh, this is so amazing.' Even now, sometimes when you experience something in that moment, you don't necessarily recognize the impact. When I retired from basketball and really reconnected with old friends, after being abroad so much, that they could share those stories, like, 'Wow, we remember when you were drafted first, and when Nike gave you your own shoe'. Those things like that hit you hard. I didn't necessarily understand it back then.

Parker: I think it had a big impact, because you might not be the first, but there has to be someone who can show that they can continue it. To show that women can have a shoe, and that women can play basketball, I hope it has inspired the generation that has come up now.

What were the disadvantages of the generation of girls who grew up in the 2010s without seeing another woman with her own line of athletic shoes?

Lobo: Me It's really surprising that it's been almost 10 years since we've seen a woman with a shoe line. I don't see how that makes sense. Now I live with four children, three of them are daughters. My 14-year-old daughter, in particular, loves women's basketball. He loves going to Connecticut Sun games. She was paying attention to the draw. I was paying attention to free agency. When the Minnesota Lynx drafted Napheesa Collier, [she asked me,] 'Mom, can you buy me a jersey?' You know, I don't get why the shoe companies haven't seen that as a profitable place to invest in a women's shoe.

I am buying my own daughters multiple pairs of basketball shoes each year as they prepare for their winter season or prepare for their AAU season. Of course, if there was a women's shoe line, that's the one they would want. I find it ridiculous that Sue Bird has never had a shoe. Sue Bird? How does that happen?

Staley: I think there's going to be quite a few of them coming out, probably in the next six to eight years; at least five or six more personal shoe lines will come out.

McCray: I think the sport is growing a lot, and now, sneaker companies are saying, 'Hey, this is your [show-off] shoe.' A'ja Wilson has a shoe that [she's wearing]. I hope that athletic shoe companies can get back to creating athletic shoe lines for female players, because I think women's basketball is taking off. As you can see, the WNBA is stable, the Final Four is growing. ... It's a matter of companies trusting it and investing in it again. We had some success with me, Sheryl, Lisa, Rebecca, and Dawn Staley. Now the women's game is different. The Final Four is selling out, and the WNBA is here to stay.

Cooper: I don't know there's a downside yet because there are so many other things that have taken up that space. You are starting to see players in the WNBA with such great shoes. They are putting their own personal touch to their own shoes. Wow, I saw several players and I said, 'Send me a pair.' But I do believe that there should be a place for a woman, especially in this generation, to have her own line of shoes that fit a woman's foot and that other young women can wear to play and admire the woman who has that line. of sports shoes. It's not just about t-shirts. It's not just about watching them win championships. It's also about saying, 'Hey, we deserve to have a shoe line and for women to wear shoes that fit their feet.'

Holdsclaw: Right now, the world is watching. We saw what the orange hoodie did, and the excitement it generated.

We fight so hard, not just for having our own league and being able to maintain our own brand, but an extension of that is having your own sneakers. We are not men, we are women. We should have our own and be able to walk into a store and see lines of women's basketball shoes in there. No matter the sport, there are high profile athletes who should have their own line of shoes that look like and live up to it.

And that's what's so special about seeing another woman added to it. Stewie [Breanna Stewart] has done her best in basketball, and she's not done. She is there thanks to the work of Lisa Leslie, Sheryl Swoopes, Cynthia Cooper and everyone who came before her.

I don't have a daughter, but if I do have a daughter one day, I want to be able to walk into a store and have her feel good about herself and be proud to go to the women's wall and see that whoever is standing out in the WNBA at that point, she can say, 'You know what, I want to buy those A'ja Wilsons.' You want to be able to say that these women are doing it, because they're doing such great things in their respective sports.

Parker: I know it's a process, but that's more or less what we discuss when we get together. It's about passing the baton and taking it further. It's what all of them have done for me, and what I want to do for the next generation.

What is your favorite memory of wearing a shoe model with your name on it?

Swoopes: I actually wore my shoe model on the Olympic Games, before playing in the WNBA season. I just remembered the first time I put it on in practice. I didn't really enjoy it, because all my teammates were like, 'Wow!' They were like, 'This is crazy! This is a historic moment.'

I was in the locker room and there was a box. The box says 'Air Swoopes', and I was actually trying to hide the box so my teammates wouldn't see it. I didn't know how they would react. I waited for everyone to come out of the locker room, and I took her out. I wanted to enjoy the moment. I opened the box, put it on and walked out. The players knew about the shoe, but they hadn't seen it on my foot.

I go out on the court and start to warm up, and all my teammates are like, 'Oh! That's so cool!' They all came to see the shoe and said, 'Congratulations, this is great.' So Tara [VanDerVeer] said, 'Okay, that's it, let's practice.'

That's the moment that sticks out for me. For starters, you are preparing to compete at the highest level in the Olympic Games. I had all my teammates very supportive and excited about it and we had the chance to do something that was pretty special. Just getting the opportunity to represent on behalf of the women, that was a special moment for me.

Staley: I took them back to my neighborhood to ask for criticism. Because they are the buyers. They are the long-term buyers. Nobody said anything negative, because I think they were amazed that I had my own brand of shoes. 'This is my shoe. This is the Dawn Staley Zoom S5'. It was pretty cool to bring him to the neighborhood to celebrate because all of them at some point helped me hone my skills to the point that Nike bestowed this on me.

I just remember that people loved them. If I put them on, they'd say, 'I'm going to get them.' Like my colleagues. To me, that's the highest compliment you can get from someone who was a rival or teammate who wanted a pair of sneakers.

Holdsclaw: The first time I wore them. I remember that moment. I remember movements. I remember shooting with a step back fade, and when I hit the shot, my leg was up. As I was running back, I looked down, and I thought, 'Wow, I'm wearing my own shoe!' It was so exciting.

Parker: There are so many memories! Tying them up for the first time was like a dream. They send you the models to try on, and I remember my first training in those sneakers. Memories of being in front of your house when no one cared. Going on all those AAU trips and stuff. Now having your own sports shoe model is simply incredible.