Why WNBA Rookie Alissa Pili Is Important for the Future of Nike N7
Through its N7 initiative, Nike has collaborated with Native American and Indigenous communities with a focus of increasing equity in sports. During 2024 WNBA All-Star Weekend in Phoenix, the Swoosh put N7 in the spotlight with its newest ambassador, Minnesota Lynx forward Alissa Pili.
From its Nike Unite Tempe store, a short drive from the Footprint Center, the home of this year’s All-Star Game, Pili was joined in conversation by N7 general manager Sam McCracken. The conversation served as a celebration of the extension of N7’s partnership with the Notah Begay III Foundation, the Center for Healing and Justice through Sport and the three sister communities.
What’s more, it was also a welcoming moment to N7 for Pili — the No. 8 overall pick in the 2024 WNBA Draft — who was named a Nike N7 ambassador in June.
“She knew about the work we did, and it was our job to make sure that we got her on board so she can do that work,” McCracken, whose career at Nike started in 1997, said following the conversation with Pili. “N7 gives her that megaphone for the community with a large brand like Nike, to celebrate who she is and what she represents.”
He continued, “She says all the time in her comments how proud she is to be Iñupiat and to be Samoan and to and represent her community. She takes that stuff very personally whenever I’ve talked with her, and N7 helps with that platform.”
N7 aligned with Pili at an ideal time. Aside from her large and engaged following, the WNBA has never been hotter and Pili is on one of the league’s best teams. With this momentum, McCracken said this will only allow N7 to show the next generation — including the young female athletes who traveled from her home state of Alaska — what is possible.
“People know we’re on native lands here, so for us to do this moment here was really special, to have Alissa come in and to have these young girls from Alaska come all the way [here] to see their role model, their idol,” said McCracken, who became the manager of the brand’s Native American business in 2000, and has led the development of the N7 collections and the N7 Fund ever since.
He continued, “I always use the premise ‘you can’t be it if you don’t see it.’ For them to see her playing in the league, maybe one of those young people here can maybe be the next Alissa Pili, and that’s what our goal is at N7.”
About the Author
Peter Verry is the Senior News and Features Editor for Athletic and Outdoor at Footwear News. He oversees coverage of the two fast-paced and ultracompetitive markets, which includes conducting in-depth interviews with industry leaders and writing stories on sneakers and outdoor shoes. He is a lifelong sneaker addict (and shares his newest purchases via @peterverry on Instagram) and spends most of his free time on a trail. He holds an M.A. in journalism from Hofstra University and can be reached at peter.verry@footwearnews.com.