It’s official. Paige Bueckers is this year’s WNBA number one overall pick, as the Dallas Wings plucked her out first to kick off the 2025 WNBA draft.
With bigger and tougher challenges ahead of the newly-minted NCAA champion with the UConn Huskies, Nike will continue to provide the battlegears for Bueckers, especially in her rookie season.
Bueckers first signed a deal with Nike in September 2023, amounting to $81.78 billion per Forbes with a Name, Image, and Likeness deal. Bueckers and Nike made history then made history in December 2024, as she became the first college athlete with a player-edition shoe.
Heading into her debut in the WNBA, the UConn Huskies standout guard looks set to getting her signature shoe, however, it may not happen soon as there are other WNBA players predicted to getting their shoes first.
When asked about her thoughts on a possible signature shoe in her debut season, Bueckers said, “I have no idea. I haven’t even thought about those conversations, nor have we started those, but there’s a lot of people in line that deserve it as well, so whatever happens in the future, we’ll see.”
Through the years, Nike invested in her through the highs and most certainly when she’s at a low point in her career.
It’s been great working with Nike,” she said. “They invest so much in me, in women’s basketball, and in women’s sports. It’s been great having that partnership; they’ve done a lot of stuff for me, creatively as well.
She expressed her sincere gratitude to the sportswear giants saying, “They’ve just been very supportive of me. It could have been easy giving up on me going through the injuries and go to someone else that didn’t have that history, but they stuck with me and I’m extremely grateful for that.”
Paige Bueckers’s historic shoe fit for a collegiate queen
In December, Paige Bueckers, alongside Nike, made history when she became the first college athlete to design and release a Nike Player Edition basketball shoes called the Paige Bueckers Nike G.T. Hustle 3.
Featuring Bueckers’ favorite colors, baby blue and lavender, the sneakers also included important messages, people and places in her life.
“It’s definitely motivating to wear your own shoe,” Paige said. “I grew up wearing Nikes — all the signature shoes — so it’s surreal to have this Player Edition model. I just want to show out in it.”
Bueckers is now in line with A’Ja Wilson, who’s set to debut her shoes this summer, Caitlin Clark, who’s in line to debut hers next year, and Nike women’s basketball’s icon Sabria Ionescu, to being part of the elite players with signature shoes for their WNBA career. Only time will tell now when Bueckers’ shoes will be released.
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Dan has been active in sports since 2016 and has worked behind the scenes as a scriptwriter for basketball, volleyball, and other sports. At a time, Dan has also been working as a sports commentator for CBA Pilipinas. During the pandemic, he has also been actively writing betting articles for CashBet and BetNow.
