“Right now, where I am, I don’t feel like I deserve to put on clothes,” A’ja Wilson revealed why she had started wearing plain white tees during the pregame appearances. However, it did not take Wilson much to be ‘deserving’ of the glamour that she is usually accustomed to. The 28-year-old, nearly single-handedly, for most of the season, performed exceptionally well, taking the Aces to the playoffs. And now that she has done half of her part, the South Carolina-born has released her plain white tee in collaboration with Nike, which many interpret as a warning to the Storm.

Wilson took to X to share the design of her white tees with Nike that feature the official Wilson trademark logo. She had captioned the post as “yup. ✨😶‍🌫️🤭.” Many fans feel that this is a sort of warning to the Seattle Storm, who will be at loggerheads against the Aces in the playoffs starting Sunday. Since, as per her admission, Wilson had stated that wearing white tees in the pregame reflects on her focus on winning games.

The Aces would be clashing against the fifth-seeded Storm in a three-game series. The first game will tip off at 10 PM on Sunday and can be viewed on ESPN. Similarly, game 2 will be played on Tuesday at 9:30 PM. If there is no clear result during the initial two games, then the third game will take place, but this time in Seattle. Therefore, Wilson’s warning to the Storm comes at the right time, especially since she has been the chief offensive star for her team and a defensive horror for the opponents. Meanwhile, this is also a teaser from Wilson’s apparel collaboration with Nike.

The first player to cross the 1000 points mark in a single W season had previously announced her collab with Nike that would feature her signature shoe line along with an apparel collection. The sneakers, along with the garments, are set to debut in May 2025. The A’One Signature tees will be priced at $40 USD whereas the Signature SS Tee will be sold at $45 USD, as per ‘KicksFinder’. With this move, the 2x Olympic gold medalist was set to join the NBA great Michael Jordan in his club since he too has an apparel collection with Nike through the Jordan Brand.

A’ja Wilson’s journey through the season with Nike

“Of Course I Have A Shoe Dot Com,” Wilson wore a Nike sweatshirt that had the URL to the official website below it. This was Wilson’s way of dropping the big news of having her signature shoe line, something that the fans wanted for a long time. The South Carolina-born was present on her home court in a preseason game against Puerto Rico when she made an appearance in the now-famous sweatshirt. The 28-year-old had played for the Gamecocks in college under Dawn Staley for the Gamecocks and hence saw the place as the perfect fit to announce a watershed moment in her brand value.

Though Wilson & Co. won the game by a huge blowout margin, coming into the W regular season, the magic of the Aces just seemed to fade away. As their star Chelsea Gray was battling injury, Wilson had to take the onus of the team. Despite excelling both offensively and defensively, the Aces struggled to reach the benchmark they had set for themselves in the previous two seasons. Thus, when September arrived Wilson made sure to don just plain white tees, which according to her helped her concentrate solely on the games.

“I have to want to put on clothes. Right now, where I am, I don’t feel like I deserve to put on clothes. … Right now, my main focus is just getting wins,” Wilson revealed when asked the pressing question before enumerating “digging in the bottom of my T-shirt drawer, and I’m putting on a shirt and I’m getting out.”

And surely her dedication paid off. Wilson averaged 26.14 points per game during that time and 12 rebounds per game during the 7 games she wore white tees in. For her on-court brilliance, she was also named the Western Conference Player of the Week from September 3 to 10. To add to that, Wilson, during her game against the Connecticut Sun, inched to the 1000-point mark in September. One can certainly say that it has reaped amazing results. And hopefully going ahead into the playoffs, Wilson will continue that.