A WNBA player has a signature shoe for the first time in a decade, a milestone players say is long overdue

• Storm superstar Breanna Stewart became the first WNBA player in a decade with a signature shoe.
• Puma announced the deal with the 2018 league MVP just ahead of the 2021 WNBA season.
• Fellow All-Star Chiney Ogwumike told Insider it's "about time" a WNBA player got a signature shoe.
• Visit Insider's homepage for more stories.

For the first time in a long time, a WNBA player will be rocking kicks of her own.

Puma announced Wednesday that they signed Breanna Stewart to a long-term endorsement deal that would give the Seattle Storm superstar her own signature shoe. The agreement makes the 2018 WNBA MVP and budding women's basketball GOAT the league's first player with a signature sneaker since Adidas released Candace Parker's TS Ace Commanders in 2010.

And while a signature shoe is undoubtedly a noteworthy advancement for a league that has long struggled for the recognition it deserves, WNBA fans and other league stars – like Los Angeles Sparks All-Star Chiney Ogwumike – say it's "about time."

"About time – that's my reaction," Ogwumike told Insider while discussing "144," the ESPN documentary about the 2020 WNBA season that she executive produced. "And it's amazing. I know there's so many reasons that people think that this should not happen, but let's talk about the reasons why it should."

Let's.

Puma's significant investment in Stewart - and, by proxy, the WNBA - comes on the back of a rising tide in the women's sports space and a standout year for the league on the engagement front. Thanks to a massive broadcast deal with ESPN that included 37 live regular-season games, a plethora of playoff matchups, and the entirety of the Finals, the WNBA had more televised games than ever before in 2020.

Despite ratings dips across much of the world of professional athletics, unprecedented viewership followed. The WNBA saw a 68% increase in its regular-season audience, a 15% viewership jump for the finals, and 30% more engagement across social media.

The WNBA's silver jubilee this season promises to be one of its most successful campaigns yet. With new partnerships, new threads, and new, innovative endorsement deals, Engelbert and the league are poised to bolster recent gains while remaining true to their roots and core values.

Evidently, Puma knows the time is ripe to invest in the league. But Ogwumike and her WNBA colleagues have known it for far longer.

"There's true energy, momentum, and room for growth for women's sports," she said. "Why not invest in that? And this is an example of real investment in women that are doing things just as good, if not better than our counterparts."

And Stewart is a great example. She was already a force to be reckoned with early in her career - winning WNBA MVP, Finals MVP, and a championship in just her third season with Storm. But during an "offseason" campaign in Russia, she ruptured her Achilles tendon and was forced to take in the 2019 WNBA season from the sidelines.

The do-it-all forward came back with a vengeance at the start of the 2020 season, finishing just behind Las Vegas Aces star A'ja Wilson in the MVP race. But Stewart got the last laugh by besting Wilson and her Aces in a three-game WNBA Finals sweep. Stewart's 28.3 points per game on 65% shooting from beyond with arc with 7.7 rebounds per game to boot made her the easy choice as Finals MVP honors, marking the second time in her four WNBA seasons that she's won the award en route to a championship.

Within the following six months, Stewart added a Russian title and Finals MVP honors as well as a EuroLeague championship and a Final Four MVP award to her lengthy list of accolades. That's three championships and three MVPs in half a year, for anyone counting. And as far as Ogwumike is concerned, that's more than enough to warrant a Stewie signature shoe.

"Heck yeah Stewie, go ahead!" Ogwumike said. "I probably won't be - I can't wear them. But shoot! Good for you, sis."

Good for the whole league, too. The 2021 WNBA season - the league's 25th since its founding - tips off Friday night at 7 p.m. on NBA TV with a game between the New York Liberty and Indiana Fever.

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