Bright and early on June 17, WNBA fans could tell Caitlin Clark had something up her sleeves. First, she changed her Instagram handle to @Caitlin1, then her profile pic to Nike's logo. Turns out, that zoomed-in silver Swoosh belonged to Clark's first-ever Nike sneaker, named the Caitlin 1.
Two years after Clark signed an eight year, $28 million contract with Nike (the highest value contract ever floated to a WNBA player at the time), they made their partnership official with court-to-street sneakers. Over a decade of basketball experience set a high standard for the Caitlin 1s. She's also dreamt of having her own shoe "for as long as I can remember," according to a press release. So, she gave Nike a checklist. The sneakers had to support "speed, range, and unpredictability," and look cool while in action, of course.
