One of the many reasons women's sports deserves equal airtime, and equal pay, with men is that the powers that be behind the female franchises are having almost too much fun with their mascots. Case in point: Ellie the Elephant, the sassy, twerking, fashion-maven mascot for the New York Liberty basketball team. Since replacing the previous (and much less fun to watch) mascot, Maddie the dog, four years ago, she has provided the perfect degree of maximalist style to the sidelines, amping up the crowd and dancing with the team's infamous 40-and-up dancers, the Timeless Torches, during half-time.
Big Ellie, as she's commonly know, already has a suite of custom jersey dresses by sportswear designer Gabe Stark (in addition to outerwear, jewelry and custom sneakers), a profile in The New York Times style section, "Have You Ever Seen an Elephant Twerk?", and hundreds of thousands of followers on both TikTok and Instagram. Clearly, the mascot is a rising star in the fashion space, but it's time her signature court-side glam—think mile-long lashes and playful hairstyles like braided ponytails to down-to-there weaves—received some much-deserved attention.
