10 WNBA Sneaker Stars to Watch Out For This Season

After starting the year with fear that there might not be a season due to labor strife, the 2026 WNBA season is set to begin on May 8. Thanks to a new media deal that was signed in 2024 and a historic CBA agreement that will pay the players more money than ever before, the league’s 30th anniversary season can expect more fans, more eyes, and more scrutiny.

With a season that will undoubtedly be buoyed by fans and nostalgia freaks, there is also plenty of opportunity for sneaker brands to catch new fans as they see their favorites in footwear that they might be tempted to buy to show their support. Rookies are entering the league with large built-in fan bases thanks to developing connections in college, veterans are hitting milestones that were previously thought to be unattainable, and superstars are crossing over and surpassing their NBA counterparts.

And then there’s the Caitlin Clark of it all. There’s not a single sneakerhead, sneaker enthusiast, or interested party in the business who is not eagerly anticipating her signature sneaker, which could change the landscape forever. Let’s check out what’s next for Caitlin, Angel, A’ja, Paige, and more in this 2026 WNBA Sneaker Preview.

Honorable Mention: Kelsey Plum (?)

A few weeks ago, Kelsey Plum officially became a sneaker free agent after parting ways with Under Armour. She has been wearing adidas in the interim, so they are the leader of the clubhouse, but the possibility of a Steph Curry-like run of wearing various brands is in play. We'll just have to wait and see how it unfolds...

10. Flau’jae Johnson (Puma)

When Sole Retriever’s own Zach Harris interviewed Flau’jae Johnson several weeks ago, the vibe was that she was already ahead of the game in comparison to her fellow 2026 WNBA draftees. While Johnson wore Nikes at LSU, she had an NIL deal with Puma and had already released a full capsule collection with sneakers and matching apparel designed for her. The multihyphenate has already achieved so much in her short career that the WNBA just feels like the natural progression for her. And while preseason performance is not always the indicator of what to expect in the regular season, Johnson has already put up big numbers in Seattle while rocking a new PE colorway of the All-Pro Nitro 1. It’s possible Puma has found their next big thing.

9. Kiki Rice, Gabriela Jacquez, Lauren Betts (Jordan Brand, Reebok)

Fresh off winning a National Championship just a few weeks ago for UCLA, Kiki Rice, Gabriela Jacquez, and Lauren Betts have all gone their separate ways thanks to the WNBA Draft. But that’s not the only split we’ve seen as Betts has moved on from Jordan Brand to sign a new deal with Reebok while Rice and Jacquez have remained with the Jumpman. During their respective preseason debuts, Betts was rocking the Reebok Angel Reese 1, Rice turned heads with the Ferrari-inspired Air Jordan 4014, and Jacquez shined with the Air Jordan 40 as well.

8. Breanna Stewart (Puma)

Not a lot of people can say they debuted their latest signature shoe in a league that they co-founded, but that’s exactly what Breanna Stewart did when the second season of Unrivaled kicked off this past January. The Puma Stewie 5 marks a significant milestone for Stewart as she joins the legendary Sheryl Swoopes as the only woman to reach the five signature shoe mark (Swoopes ended up with seven). Being on a perennial contender like the New York Liberty means the Stewie 5 will get plenty of airtime as the sneaker looks to stand out from the field that is growing every year after lying dormant for years.

7. Napheesa Collier (Jordan Brand)

WNBA All-Star and MVP candidate Napheesa Collier will not be on the court to start the season as she is still recovering from an ankle injury she suffered at the end of last year, which also forced her to sit out the second year of the Unrivaled league that she co-founded with Breanna Stewart. She is expected to return to the court by June, however, and that puts her in a position to be one of the first athletes to wear the next Air Jordan flagship model on the court. Not much is known about the Air Jordan 41 at the moment, but WNBA and NBA All-Stars have alternated the past few years as to who gets the honors of debuting the latest flagship Jordan, and Collier certainly meets the criteria after signing with the brand in 2025. Along with the Air Jordan 40, Collier wore the Jordan Tatum 3 and the women’s exclusive Jordan Heir Series 1 last season.

6. Paige Bueckers (Nike)

By the end of her rookie season, there were already arguments online about who had a better debut season between Paige Bueckers and Caitlin Clark. Of course, inane discourse like that can only come from the most broken parts of the internet as fans and haters of Bueckers and Clark look for something to talk about in bad faith. In other words, let’s not talk that stuff seriously and focus on the important things, like what sneakers we can expect Buckets to rock this upcoming season.

Paige’s rookie campaign covered nearly the full gamut of Nike Basketball’s repertoire. Her sneaker of choice for most of the season was the Nike GT Cut 3 and GT Cut 3 Turbo, but sprinkled in between those sneakers were the Nike LeBron 20, Nike Book 1, and Nike Kobe 5 Protro. But it was her debuting the Nike GT Cut 4 during WNBA All-Star Weekend last year that generated the most buzz, thanks to its out-of-this-world debut Vivid Purple colorway.

Where it gets interesting for Paige and her fans is whether or not she’s next up to receive a Nike signature shoe. Between herself, Caitlin Clark, and Sabrina Ionescu, is there room at The Swoosh for three signature shoe lines led by players with similar skill sets and who might require overlapping features? The answer should be yes, but that will be a good problem for Nike to have should Paige continues her ascension. But at least she’ll always have the honor of being the first NCAA player to have her own PE release to the public.

5. Azzi Fudd (Jordan Brand)

Look, when you sign a deal with Jordan Brand and they immediately call you “One In Azzillion,” you might be someone everybody needs to pay attention to. After years of being under the Nike umbrella at UConn, Fudd is immediately one of Jordan Brand’s most prominent stars in the WNBA. She could easily be the face of the Jordan Heir Series 2 alongside fellow draft mates Kiki Rice and Garbiela Jacquez, but if her star continues to rise, there was a recent vacancy in the Jordan Brand signature shoe department that might be a point of interest in a year or two.

4. Angel Reese (Reebok)

The sneaker portion of the Angel Reese Experience has been an interesting one for fans to follow. After her rookie season that saw her wear the Reebok Engine A, the brand announced at the end of 2024 that she was not only re-signing a multi-year extension but also getting a signature shoe that would launch in 2026 (it ended up releasing in 2025). A year later, Reese shook up the sneaker world again when she debuted the Reebok Angel Reese 1 on the WNBA Edition cover of NBA 2K26 and released the first colorways a few weeks later.

2026 is a whole new game for Angel and Reebok. She was traded to the Atlanta Dream in a shocking move for one of the league’s brightest young stars, who figured to be a Chicago staple for years to come. It might turn out to be a blessing in disguise as the Dream figure to be a contender this season, and Reese is looked at less as a savior and more as a big piece to help get them over the top.

Being on a contender can only help her profile as she continues to rock with Angel Reese 1 in the preseason. Time will tell if Reebok will shock us again with a sudden reveal of the Angel Reese 2 or if they exhibit some patience and hold off on the follow-up until 2027.

3. Sabrina Ionescu (Nike)

There’s an alternate reality where Nike goes full force with a Kobe Brand that has the same level of autonomy as Jordan Brand. The list of WNBA and NBA athletes that would want to sign up with a hypothetical Kobe Brand would stretch across the country, but there’s no doubt that at the top of that hierarchy is Sabrina Ionescu with her own Kobe signature shoe.

In our world, however, Sabrina has carried the torch for Kobe in her own way as her signature shoe line has become the choice of hoopers all around the world in a way that we haven’t seen since Nike and Kyrie Irving were an ongoing concern. She recently debuted the Nike Sabrina 4 during her trip to Asia and is now rocking a basic black and white colorway to start the preseason. With every model of the Sabrina hanging around the top of the most worn sneakers across both leagues, the Sabrina 4 is looking to continue that momentum in this new WNBA year.

2. A’ja Wilson (Nike)

After a certified hit with the Nike A’One, hopes are high that the magic will still be there for the sequel, the Nike A’Two. The biggest hurdle that A’ja will have to clear among fans and the parents who buy the shoes for those fans is the higher price tag that jumps from $115 to $145. Interestingly, that number leapfrogs the recently revealed Nike Sabrina 4 by ten dollars.

The added tech emphasis justifies the price increase, but those numbers are a huge reason why we see more kids wearing Giannis Immortality takedown sneakers outside compared to the signature Freak line. A’ja’s star power and strong fan base will be there to support their hero, but we will have to see if everybody else will ride along as well for the sequel.

1. Caitlin Clark (Nike)

No surprise here as the world awaits what’s next for Caitlin Clark on the sneaker front. With the number of player-exclusive Nike Kobe 5 and 6 Protros she’s received over the years, it wouldn’t be shocking to see her win in a Kobe sneaker battle against DeMar DeRozan or P.J. Tucker. Her Protro PEs also consistently sell out for Nike, so expect to see that continue this season right up until the moment…

What’s that moment, you might ask? The debut of her signature shoe, of course. Hopefully Pat McAfee won’t steal her thunder by wearing his early pair that she sent him first and ruin the moment like he ruined WrestleMania, but expectations for the sneaker are higher for this debut than any other in recent memory. The Nike Caitlin 1 is expected to launch during the holiday season, but Clark has stated that she will debut the sneaker on-court during the 2026 WNBA season.

The big question with regards to the sneaker, beyond using technology that “Isn’t anything that they’ve ever put into a basketball shoe before," is the aesthetic of the sneaker. Even though we have not seen a proper new Kobe basketball model for years now, his Protros continue to dominate in both the WNBA and NBA, with Sabrina Ionescu’s signature line filling the void for those looking for something new. Will Nike Caitlin 1 be a low-cut marvel that replaces both Sabrina and Kobe and dominates the charts next season? The sales will certainly be there for the launch, but where it goes from there is what everybody is curious to find out.

Juan Martinez

From video game journalism to veteran of the sneaker blog era to podcasting about well, everything, Juan is smiling through it all and can't believe this is his life. After recently getting into Formula 1, he now has hot takes about who the greatest driver of all time is. Email: juan@soleretriever.com