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Earlier this month, Nike attempted to show its commitment to support the WNBA when it revealed that A’ja Wilson was finally getting her own signature shoe.
But just a few weeks later, a perhaps over-eager social media administrator may have undone a lot of that goodwill when they accidentally sneak-dissed the W in a since-deleted tweet.
The tweet from the @nikebasketball account came shortly after the Dallas Mavericks defeated the Minnesota Timberwolves in the NBA’s Western Conference Finals.
Nike posted this in the middle of the WNBA season😭 pic.twitter.com/6OCRjAh2q4
— Hoops (@HoopMixOnly) May 31, 2024
It read “And that’s… a week without hoops smh,” referring to the week between now and the start of the NBA Finals.
There are, of course, several WNBA games in that stretch.
It didn’t take long for competing brands to take advantage of the massive blunder.
And that’s that…another week WITH hoops 😉
— Under Armour Basketball (@UAbasketball) May 31, 2024
Coincidentally, that type of mistake is why WNBA superstar rookie Angel Reese said that she opted to sign with Reebok rather than Nike and several other competitive offers.
“So many different shoe companies wanted to work with me. But I chose Reebok,” Reese said on social media. “What was it about Reebok? One, they don’t have a women’s basketball player (who is) a face. So I wanted to be that.
“Two, Shaq. You know my relationship with Shaw. And three I like how they were rebranding everything and they’re letting me be the creator behind everything I want to do. So I’m having my own shoe line coming out. Merch with my name on it.”
It’s clear Reese didn’t buy that Nike was truly bought in to women’s basketball and felt that she’d be lost in the shuffle at the sneaker giant.
Now it appears she may well have been onto something.
The Nike social media coordinator probably meant nothing by the tweet. But it still looks awful at a time where the W is as popular as ever and your company is trying to emphasize its commitment to the league and the women’s game.