A’ja Wilson Breaks Down Her Nike A’One Sneaker Design

Sheryl Swoopes could hardly hold back tears as she led a toast to A’ja Wilson at a preview event for Wilson’s Nike collection on Saturday. Swoopes, addressing Wilson in front of a group of media and Nike employees huddled around in a pink-lit room on the third floor of the Henry J. Kaiser Center for the Arts in Oakland during All-Star Weekend, was there to pass the torch.

Swoopes became the first woman to sign with the WNBA in 1996, and the first Black woman with her own Nike signature shoe, the Air Swoopes. Wilson, the Las Vegas Aces center and two-time WNBA champion, is set to become the next Black woman to get her own Nike signature shoe with the release of her A’One model in May.

“A’ja, you are her,” Swoopes said, exhaling emotion and taking a beat after her first couple lines.

“Now I can’t look at you,” Wilson responded, fanning herself down and wiping away a tear.

“You have to,” Swoopes said back before carrying on. “Well, I’m gonna look at my paper because I don’t want to forget anything. There simply aren’t enough words to express how big this moment is and what it means to me personally. 30 years since the first Black woman had a Nike signature shoe, I can’t think of anyone more deserving than you to be next. A1, a real one since day one. Cheers.”

Wilson’s Nike A’One shoe will arrive amid a surge in popularity in women’s basketball—the WNBA set new records for viewership and attendance in the 2024 season—and women’s basketball sneakers. New York Liberty guard Sabrina Ionescu’s Nike Sabrina 2 is one of the most commonly worn sneakers in the NBA right now.

The Nike A’One is set to debut in a shimmering “Pink A’ura” colorway (“Apostrophe after the A,” Wilson emphasizes), as pink is its muse’s favorite color. Nike says the shade represents her leadership, confidence, and big Leo energy.

The sneaker’s upper has layered cuts that form a gradient on the launch colorway. The layers are like those inside of a pearl, an important symbol in the design of the A’One. The sole is built on Cushlon ST2 foam, which Nike says provides a firm base for cushioned landings.

The A’One ties back to Wilson’s family. Its pearl inspiration is connected to a necklace her grandmother gave her as a child, and Wilson’s Celtic character tattoos that appear inside the tongues reference her mother and father. The sneaker was designed by Ben Nethongkome, a prolific Nike designer who seems to have had his hand in every one of the brand’s current signature basketball shoes.

Nike is also releasing a range of apparel as part of Wilson’s first offering that includes the A’Symmetric tight, with its distinct one-legged cut, and a cropped hoodie with a sateen liner to accommodate her hair.

“I’m so appreciative of Nike for just standing behind me for this moment because we’ve been through a lot together,” Wilson said at the preview on Saturday.

Complex sat with Wilson at the Oakland event to discuss how her sneaker started, how its design came together, and who she wants to see wear it. The conversation (which features a cameo from Nethongkome) has been lightly edited for clarity.

Were you someone who grew up wanting your own signature shoe? Was it something you thought about a lot?
Yeah. Growing up, I did always have that dream. I felt like every kid: I wanted to be the Nike model, I wanted to have my own shoe. But those dreams felt very lofty because I didn’t have the mindset of a champion. So I was like, I don’t know how I’m going to do it, but I want to do it. So I did have that dream.

Were you sketching it? Were you the person to draw a shoe?
Ooh, I didn’t, but I did practice on my signature a lot. I would always practice my autographs on anything. Every little piece of paper, I’m writing my name and I’m like, oh you never know when you’re going to use it, A’ja. And I’m like, never. Maybe for a permission slip, but that’s about it. So I didn’t really draw, but I always would practice on making sure my signature was perfection.

How and when did you learn that you were getting a signature shoe?
When? It had to be about two years ago. I was in Miami and my Nike fam brought me in and they sat me down and they had this TV screen up and I’m like, oh my gosh, another deck, another meeting.

You didn’t know what was happening.
I didn’t know. I’m just like, OK, another Nike thing that I had. I was doing, actually, the Cosmic Unities. So it was like, OK, another thing, cool. And then that’s when Coach Staley pops up on the screen and I’m like, hmm what’s she saying? And I remember her telling me that I was becoming a signature athlete and I’ll be having my own shoe. And after that, I have no idea what she said because I was so into like, oh my gosh, I’m getting my own shoe.

You blacked out?
I just blacked out right there. But definitely was a big moment, obviously sharing my relationship with Coach Staley, for her to be the one to tell me it was truly special.

Can you talk about your relationship with Sheryl Swoopes and both of you being in that rare space of being Black women with signature shoes?
Sheryl and I have really gotten close over these past couple of years because, I mean, she’s a champion and when I was going after my first championship, I wanted to know everything. And so I reached out to her and we had great conversations. She’s someone that’s going to be always honest with me and I love that about her. And so to have this moment when it came to our shoes and being in the rare space of Black women as signature athletes, it was just a sense of power and a lot of pride. 

Today was actually my first time talking to Sheryl ever after the shoe has dropped, and I felt some type of way. I was like, hold on. Sheryl hasn’t congratulated me. What’s going on? Did I do something wrong? And it’s good to see that she was just full of emotion the same way I was, because this is truly a blessing and it’s bigger than us.

So this is the first time you’ve talked to her since?
Since the shoe dropped? Yeah, since we released the shoe and the colorways. This is the first time I’ve talked to Sheryl, which is very unlikely.

Does she have a pair yet?
No, she does not have a pair. We’re going to have to get her her custom PEs. This shoe is big for her.

Is there a Nike shoe that you liked a lot that you wore before that you used as a base to draw from when you worked on your signature shoe?
I mean, I love shoes. I played in Kobes throughout the beginning of my WNBA career. And then obviously I just started rocking LeBrons. And Bron is very comfortable to me. I’ve always loved it. But when it came to my shoe, I literally scratched the whole board.

I was like, I don’t want my shoe to feel like any other, I don’t want my shoe to look like any other. I didn’t even have a mold or a vision that I wanted to go after. So we really just kind of started from scratch. and I was like, this is what I want. What could it look like in a very nice way that people would want to buy? And that’s where we got it from.

Trying to make it look like nothing else that was available.
Yeah, that was my biggest thing was like, yeah, you can maybe see stuff because sneakerheads are going to peep stuff. But I feel like from looking at it and from building it, I didn’t want it to have any components of anyone else. It was just my own.

I feel like it’s a hard job for Ben Nethongkome, because he designs all the Nike basketball sig shoes right now. So it’s like, how do you separate from a Sabrina, from a KD, from a LeBron?
Exactly. I definitely think I put Ben to work because he gave me these three options. He’s like: speed or jump or mobility or anything, and I’m like, I want ’em all. Give me something—I don’t want to just pick, I want them all. I was greedy in a lot of senses because I wanted to give the people what they wanted and I wanted that. So yeah, I definitely, I put him to work. Sorry, Ben.

What’s your relationship with Ben like?
Oh, Ben’s the homie. He’s definitely one-of-one, his creative mind. The way that I saw him work live where I wanted to change something. On set, he whips out his pen and he’s like, “Alright, let’s get to sketching.” That is my dog. He’s done so much to help me. He’s really brought my vision to life in this shoe, which is crazy. I don’t even think I was speaking English sometimes when I wanted what I wanted.

What do you mean? You didn’t know how to articulate it?
I could not articulate what I wanted but I could see it. But then I couldn’t draw it, so I was like, “Ben, help me.” And he came to the rescue with that and he sketched up a lot of different things. I’m like, I want it kind of to look like whoop and go doop and then go out like woo. And he’s like, “Alright, bet.” And now you have the A’One. So yeah, Ben, that’s the homie forever and I’m very appreciative of him.

Are you close enough with him that you can fight about things? I feel like if you’re a real friend you can disagree with people and it’s OK. Like, you having a thing about the shoe you disagreed on.
Is Ben over here? Come here, Ben. Come here. Sorry—we gotta bring him in.

At this point in the interview, Wilson calls over Nethongkome, who’s floating around the room, chatting with Nike employees.

They asked us did we ever—we’re gonna say bump heads, but not to that extent. When you brought that image of the shoe and I absolutely hated it, and we had to go back to the drawing board.

Nethongkome: Yes, yes, yes. There was a minor creative difference.

Minor?
Nethongkome: Yeah, it happens. It brings out the best of us.

She said she hated it.
[Wilson laughs]

Nethongkome: I would say hate’s a strong word. Strongly disliked.

[Laughing] OK, yeah, I strongly disliked the image.

Nethongkome: It stemmed from her talking about how she wanted to prioritize performance from cushioning, but also speedy looking. And you can’t get speedy looking without being taller because you want the cushioning. So we tried different options and we landed on something that she loved the most.

One of the stories I loved was that you said you would be in meetings and Ben would have a bag of shoes and you’re just sitting there being like, “Just open the bag.”
Yes. He loved to build up the suspense and I didn’t like that because I haven’t seen that new shoe and I needed to see it right then.

Nethongkome: Timeout, timeout, timeout. It’s not like that. First of all, when we go through athlete engagements, there’s setup pages. Like, “Hey, last time we met you said this. So here’s how we reacted to that.”

I didn’t like the setup pages.

Nethongkome: She did like the setup pages clearly.

So then get right to it.
Exactly. I’m like, show me the shoe and then we can talk about it. But Ben is great. You would be great in suspenseful movies. The music would change when Ben walked into the room.

Nethongkome: Alright, well you got it from here.

[Laughing] Thank you.

Nethongkome: Absolutely.

One of the things I wanted to talk about in the apparel collection is the satin in the hood of the hoodie. Why is that important?
Because I love my hair. I love my hair. I love the way that it looks when I get done with any of my comfortable wear. So that was so key to me when it came to making sure that we had a lining in the hoodie for all hair types where we don’t have to worry about hoodie hair, we don’t have to worry about anything. We’re just taking it off and you still feel great.

You said your mom didn’t want you to wear bonnets?
Yeah, my mom didn’t want me to wear bonnets in airports anymore. Because I was quick to pull my bonnet out, but now, mom, I don’t have to wear it anymore.

Who do you want to see wearing the sneaker? Who are you excited to see put the sneaker on their feet?
I mean, my number-one person already wore it, so I’m grateful in that sense. But I want to see everybody in my shoe, from Bron to Paige Bueckers to Juju to anybody in the league. Obviously Josh Hart, he called me out, Jalen Brunson—both texted me calling me out saying they need their pair. So I need to get them a pair ASAP. So anybody and everybody that loves just the game, sneakers, comfort, I would love them in A’One.