Nike Takes Shot at Connecticut Sun While Celebrating Napheesa Collier
The Minnesota Lynx have advanced to the 2024 WNBA Finals after defeating the Connecticut Sun by a score of 88-77 on Tuesday.
Per usual, the Lynx were led by superstar and 2024 Defensive Player of the Year, Napheesa Collier. "Phee" finished the game with 27 points on an efficient 10 of 16 from the floor while adding 11 rebounds, 4 assists, and 4 blocks; cementing her case as perhaps the WNBA's best two-way player.
It was very clear that Nike was excited about Collier's performance on Tuesday. The @nikebasketball X account made multiple posts shouting the Lynx superstar out during their Game 5 win over Connecticut. And at one point, they even took a shot at the Sun.
"Phee and the Lynx making the Sun go down quicker than the end of daylight savings time," Nike Basketball wrote on X.
Phee and the Lynx making the Sun go down quicker than the end of daylight savings time
— Nike Basketball (@nikebasketball) October 9, 2024
Fans on social media are finding it hilarious that Nike came out of nowhere to take this shot at the Sun, who never really showed up to perform against Minnesota on Tuesday.
Nike also had another post praising Collier Tuesday. One post wrote, "Never too late to become a Pheend". For context, 'Pheend' is the unofficial name of Collier's fanbase.
Never too late to become a Pheend
— Nike Basketball (@nikebasketball) October 9, 2024
The account also showed love to Collier's teammate Kayla McBride by writing her nickname, "Kayla McBuckets" in another post.
Kayla McBuckets
— Nike Basketball (@nikebasketball) October 9, 2024
Nike had no issue showing their bias for these Lynx players on Tuesday. But that will surely change during the WNBA Finals when Collier and the Lynx team face top-performing Nike athlete Sabrina Ionescu and her Liberty squad.
Grant Young covers Women’s Basketball, the New York Yankees, and the New York Mets for Sports Illustrated’s ‘On SI’ sites. He holds an MFA degree in creative writing from the University of San Francisco (USF), where he also graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Marketing and played on USF’s Division I baseball team for five years. However, he now prefers Angel Reese to Angels in the Outfield.