In commemoration of its 25th season, the WNBA has unveiled new jerseys for each of the 12 teams in partnership with Nike.
Fans are still waiting for the league to announce when the season will officially kick-off, but if these jerseys are anything to go by… the athletes will be doing it in style.
“Nike has partnered with the WNBA for its game uniforms since 2018, but there was clearly more to be done — more personalization, more options, more storytelling, and more attention to the careful dialing-in of performance features,” Nike said in a press release.
“Sharper creative expression and refined-fit insights directly from players guide the new Nike uniform system and apparel offering for the WNBA as the league embarks on its 25th season.”
In 2020, the WNBA dedicated the entire season to social justice with the launch of its The Justice Movement and the creation of the WNBA/WNBPA Social Justice Council. The Social Justice Council was created to “be a driving force of necessary and continuing conversations about race, voting rights, LGBTQ+ advocacy, and gun control amongst other important societal issues.”
The league regularly hit the headlines for speaking out and taking a stand against social injustices. In August 2020, Washington Mystics players refused to play following the police shooting of Jacob Blake, who was shot seven times at close range by a police officer. The shooting left Blake paralyzed below the waist.
League players also wore Breonna Taylor’s name on their jerseys after the 26-year-old emergency medical technician was shot and killed in her by police who were acting on a no-knock order.
The new WNBA uniforms will feature three-game uniform editions for each of the 12 teams in the league, “bringing stories from their cities and communities to life through the muse of female archetypes in storytelling and film.”
The three editions have been named the WNBA Nike Heroine Edition, the WNBA Nike Explorer Edition and the WNBA Nike Rebel Edition.
“We have uniforms that are uniquely ours,” says Seattle Storm point guard Sue Bird via the press release. “Every single jersey shares a story that represents our city, and the distinction allows us to express our own creativity and individual style. Nike’s attention to each design detail makes me proud to put the uniform on.”
The WNBA Nike Rebel Edition Uniforms are available exclusively to Nike Members on April 8 on nike.com and in the Nike App. The WNBA Nike Explorer Edition and the WNBA Team 13 collection will be available beginning April 14.
