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There was a ton of excitement when Indiana Fever star guard Caitlin Clark signed a lucrative brand deal with Nike shortly after her college career ended.
This was the most obvious partnership. Nike is the juggernaut of sports apparel, and Clark is the biggest star in women’s basketball and already wore Nike shoes while at Iowa. Plus, Nike has a proven track record with creating commercially and critically successful Nike shoes for women’s basketball stars (see: Sabrina Ionescu). Not to mention that Nike gave Clark the best deal by far when compared to other companies.
RELATED: Sophie Cunningham Drops Honest Review of Caitlin Clark’s NBC Broadcasting Debut
Fast forward nearly two years, and this partnership hasn’t amounted to what fans were hoping for. While Clark has signature apparel out and a signature shoe on the way at some point in 2026, this timeline has taken too long in the eyes of many.
Nike would have been wise to capitalize on Clark’s massive stardom and get her signature sneaker out as quickly as possible. But because they didn’t do so, there have been some rumblings that Clark isn’t getting the Nike treatment that she deserves.
Sophie Cunningham Fires Subtle Nike Shot While Replying to Caitlin Clark
Clark isn’t the only Fever player with a brand deal through an apparel company, as Sophie Cunningham is partnered with Adidas.
RELATED: Sophie Cunningham Eclipses Caitlin Clark for Most Searched Women’s Athlete Crown
It’s no secret that Nike and Adidas have a long-standing rivalry. And Cunningham used this to quip at Nike with a recent comment directed toward her teammate.
On February 5, Cunningham made an Instagram post featuring her posing in Adidas shoes. The post was captioned, “these are legit everyone’s favorite shoes! dress them up or down. so swaggy yet elevated and clean…. thank me later🫶🏼😮💨✨@adidasoriginals”.
This prompted a comment from Clark, who wrote, “I promise you they aren’t my favorite”.
“@caitlinclark22 and I promise you we get better treated at adidas 🤭,” Cunningham then retorted.
Sophie 😅 pic.twitter.com/yGUkgPBk3B
— m_L44 (@ML442017) February 5, 2026
RELATED: Fever GM’s 6-Word Take on Caitlin Clark Nike Ad Says Plenty
Cunningham was surely saying this tongue in cheek. But all good jokes contain truth to them, and perhaps Cunningham is calling upon conversations she and Clark have had behind closed doors with this comment.
The bottom line is that Nike can put any frustration in the rearview mirror if they knock Clark’s signature shoe out of the park at some point this year — preferably sooner rather than later.
