Nike Takes Over the Tunnel at WNBA All-Star Weekend

Story: Tiana Randall
Photography: Ashley Markle

This past weekend, Indianapolis hosted the 2025 WNBA All-Star Game, bringing together top players from across the league. But more than a game: WNBA All-Star Weekend is a celebration of the athletes’ personality, self-expression, style and cultural impact beyond the court. Players brought a new level of excitement, and a sense of freedom and fun, to their looks all weekend long. A moment to take risks, athletes step outside the usual tunnel uniform in partnership with groundbreaking stylists, opting for mixed patterns, eye-catching statement pieces, and more unexpected details.

At the center of some of the most standout style was Nike. As a sponsor of the WNBA All-Star Game Tunnel Walk, Nike elevated every outfit, with its iconic swoosh front and center. The brand also partnered with three All-Star athletes and tastemaking stylists, empowering each pair to create an inspiring vision and express their unique style through their personal lens. Two sneakers that hit the carpet and upped the ante: the Nike Air Max Muse and the Nike Air Superfly.

Among the athletes was Sabrina Ionescu, who teamed up with celebrity stylist and image curator Brittany Hampton to deliver a fresher take on classic American "prep" style. Sabrina wore two iconic Nike fits – one on Thursday’s Orange Carpet and another in the All-Star Game Tunnel on Saturday. Sabrina kicked off the weekend on Thursday night in a reworked Nike blazer paired with Nike Swoosh tights, which made waves on the internet. After securing a win in the three-point contest on Friday, Ionescu stepped out for Saturday’s game in a khaki Nike cropped jacket featuring a metallic swoosh across the front, paired with a Nike pleated skirt. To round it all out, Hampton completed the fit with the coveted Nike Air Superfly suede sneakers.

“We wanted to create a Nike look that feels like Sabrina and incorporates the vibe for WNBA All-Star Weekend,” Hampton says. “Believe it or not, the jacket and skirt are reimagined from a trench coat that we were obsessed with the first time we saw it. We added in diamonds on the swoosh for Sabrina’s glam side, and the rest was history.”

Allisha Gray teamed up with stylist Golden on a look she calls “Pressure Makes Pearls” which incorporated real pearls, she mentioned, “The vision is based on Allisha's dynamic athleticism and character in the sports world and the WNBA.” To Golden, Gray is someone whose “voice is shown on the court, and with this look you see the hard work, dedication and that voice.” Golden specializes in helping athletes shape bold and authentic visual identities both on and off the court, and she did just that with Gray.

Gray wore a Nike Sportswear Windrunner Jacket that played with contrast in both fabric and silhouette, making the look lightweight and fluid, yet structured. Golden paired it with pleated wide-leg pants and finished the look with the newly released, instant-staple women’s white-and-silver Nike Air Max Muse sneakers.

Rookie Sonia Citron worked with Courtney Mays, a celebrity stylist recognized as a thought leader and trendsetter in her field, who curates looks for her clients that elevate their style sensibility.

Citron stepped out in a Modern Fleece Destroyer Jacket and matching Mid-Rise Shorts paired with Nike Pro base layers. And no athlete’s fit is complete without a pair of fly sneakers for Citron, the all-black Nike Air Max Muse sneakers featuring subtle holographic accents. Mays styled the product to “create a seamless intersection of Sonia’s effortless style sensibility and Nike’s elevated streetwear, where masculine and feminine archetypes converge. Comfort and style are not at odds but can define a well-dressed woman.”

The WNBA All-Star Game Tunnel proved that strong relationships between the athletes and their stylists can create iconic style moments like no other.

Explore more Nike fits inspired by WNBA All-Star Weekend.

This article is a collaboration between Nike and PAPER.