WNBA star Jewell Loyd teams up with best friend’s son to raise autism awareness with his new shoes – Andscape

Jewell Loyd is one of the crucial successful WNBA players. The Seattle Storm guard is a two-time WNBA champion, a five-time All-Star and was named to two All-WNBA selections. During her season debut, Loyd took the sector in her Player Edition Nike GT Cut 3 in the colours of a dusty cactus and blooming lilac. Her sneakers have special significance because they were designed by her best friend’s son, Justice Swann, who has autism.

Andscape caught up with Loyd and Justice’s mother, Laci Swann, to discuss the shoe’s design and the impact of its launch. The 2015 WNBA Rookie of the Year also discussed the changes within the league and what it’s like to make the jump from college to the professionals.

The Seattle Storm star said he donated the design to Nike. She wanted something authentic to represent her as she tried to push the sneaker giant out of its comfort zone. “I told them the best way to understand myself is to understand my surroundings and my people,” she said. “I wanted to start with Justice.”

Loyd and Justice’s family, the Swanns, have known one another for ten years. Swann and Jewell met through mutual friends and immediately began working together. When Swann’s husband, former Florida State University guard Isaiah Swann, began playing basketball overseas, Loyd visited them over the summer. Through the visits, she and the family strengthened their bond. The relationship between Loyd and the Swann family is the main focus of GT Cut 3.

“He’s my little buddy,” Loyd said of Justice. “We were just always connected.” She didn’t know many stories about sports and autism and wanted her new publication to mix them. “It raises awareness, but it’s also educational,” she said. “(We) managed to do it with this shoe.”

Justice covered the sneakers with smiling faces and the long-lasting Nike swoosh replacing lips. Loyd said he was already drawing them across the house. His mother hired painters to paint over the faces, but the previous Notre Dame trader made sure Swann took photos to recreate them on the sneaker. “He ended up doing (the project),” she said. “So that’s how it worked out.”

The Nike GT Cut 3 “Jewell Loyd” is inspired by Seattle Storm guard Jewell Loyd’s unique relationship with Judge Swann.

The Nike GT Cut 3’s color selection, smiling faces and “Jewell Loyd” midsole text are inspired by Justice Swann.

Sloan Swann’s handwriting on a sneaker heel.

Justice’s sister Sloan also contributed creatively. The shoe has two messages: “Ready, Set, Go!” on the outsole on the heel and the words “Gotcha!” within the back. Swann wrote on Instagram that Nike used Sloan’s handwriting in each phrases. She said she told the corporate it could do whatever it wanted with her kid’s ideas. Nike representatives told her they needed to specify the design because that was what Loyd had asked for.

“Every little detail, from the laces, to the interior colors, to the patterns and the placement of the faces, my children shared their ideas and thoughts,” she wrote. “Sloan’s handwriting on the back is a chef’s kiss.”

The 2014 ACC MVP said the sneaker’s launch also helped others round her. Friends and relations of individuals with autism told her about their diagnoses. People all around the world have contacted her and are pleased to show their children what is feasible. “There is a history that we can connect with Justice through sports, so it was really cool to see that,” she said. Loyd said she is learning how to help and supply more resources.

Some of the proceeds will help fund a Swann summer camp for neurodivergent children through your non-profit organization, Little Boy Blue foundation. The camp will likely be held in Tallahassee on July 22-26. They established the inspiration after Justice was diagnosed in 2020 through the Covid-19 pandemic.

Laci felt he was different when he was three months old. When the family moved to Italy, they noticed his speech was deteriorating, and although he spoke a couple of words in Italian and English, she had him tested when he stopped speaking completely. “After he was on quite a long waiting list, which is a common problem for families seeking a diagnosis, he was actually given a non-verbal diagnosis of autism,” she said. “Then we jumped into advocacy mode and started looking for source-based therapies.”

Justice’s mother stated that the discharge was significant for her family. It gives them “more opportunities to support children with fewer resources or who are unfamiliar with autism,” she said. “(We were able to) shed light on all the special characteristics of neurodivergent children, and it was a beautiful, wonderful surprise for us and everyone around us.”

Loyd said it didn’t take long to select the colour scheme. There were three to six repetitions. However, the sneaker’s design is basically a recreation of what Justice drew. She didn’t want to change it. “It’s more about making sure the colors he used, the markers, his favorite colors, his sister’s handwriting and (to make sure it was) included that there as well,” she said. “So it really just brought us together, but it brought us together authentically.”

Nike wants to promote the GT Cut 3 because the official team shoe of the league, so it was value collaborating with them on its player editions. There are also other projects in preparation. “He had (one) with some lightning bolts on it, which I’m going to wear this month,” she said.

The nine-yr WNBA veteran is pleased to wear the sneakers on the court because they provide her a bonus. They allow her to “stop for a moment” and “get up off the ground even faster” because she shouldn’t be “encumbered” by the shoe. “It’s really just that 1% that I think is really important… that 1% rebound, that 1% angle. It interacts with how I play,” she said. “It felt really good and I can feel the difference (due to) the lightness.”

The “Golden Mamba”, as her close friend and Los Angeles Lakers legend Kobe Bryant called her, debuted in these shoes during one of the crucial anticipated WNBA seasons. After record-breaking leads to the NCAA women’s tournament in March, a few of the biggest stars of this academic discipline began their skilled careers on May 14. Loyd, who joined the league in 2015, said adapting to the physicality is one of the crucial significant differences in adapting to playing on the skilled level.

“You’re playing against people who have played abroad. They are smarter,” she said. “People pay to keep you and score points, so it’s a different physical and mental approach than college.”

The Storm finished last season with an 11-29 record and are hoping to improve with the return of former Notre Dame player and WNBA veteran Skylar Diggins-Smith. Loyd said it’s nice to spend time with her former college friend as she and Storm work to re-establish the rhythm that produced organizational championships in 2018 and 2020.

In pursuit of this goal, she’s going to have the support of her close friends each time she laces up her GT Cut 3 shoes. According to Kixstats.comLoyd has worn several different sneaker models on the court – Dallas Mavericks guards Kyrie Irving’s previous signature line, Kobe Bryant models and other Nike shoes. But in the event that they built a statue of her in front of the Climate Pledge Arena, could she be immortalized in only one pair?

“I will say a new one. “Justice” edition,” she said.