Nike's wakeup call just got even louder after latest Caitlin Clark collab

Nike has a long way to go when it comes to marketing Indiana Fever star guard Caitlin Clark.

The sportswear giant has Clark signed as one of their athletes, joining her with current WNBA stars like A'ja Wilson and Sabrina Ionescu that are signed with the company and also have signature shoes that are selling like hot cakes.

Clark, of course, does not have a signature shoe just yet with Nike. While that feels reasonable in a general sense - Wilson, for example, had to wait until her third MVP award to get an official shoe drop underway - it does feel like the company is missing the mark in general when it comes to marketing Clark, one of the most buzz-worthy names in the league and in basketball right now.

It's even harder to give them grace when companies like Wilson swoop in and do what Nike hasn't been able to do much of over the last few months with Clark as a brand - market her properly and tie her name to a legacy basketball company.

Wilson collab with Caitlin Clark proves anything is possible with Nike

The collaboration with Wilson and Clark is bringing a special line of basketballs to stores that range in price from under $30 dollars to "EVO" basketballs that are Caitlin Clark editions that hit a price point of about $125 dollars. The drop releases on June 23, with several colorways to choose from on Wilson's site.

Beyond a signature shoe, Nike just hasn't done a great job advertising Clark this season beyond announcing they would, eventually, be working a shoe with her and the occasional post here and there from the company on their social media.

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Promoting Clark, or really any WNBA star, shouldn't be so hard for Nike to accomplish. We're in season now, and several players - including Clark, despite her injury - deserve to get a lot more love from Nike's marketing team than they're currently receiving. It's so easy to advertise a player like Clark, who has the game to backup the hype behind her.

Hopefully, with this new collaboration, Nike wakes up the fact that they may need to push ahead sooner rather than later with any future Clark collaborations - especially if this Wilson drop ends up being a knockout.