Candace Parker shares her vision as president of Adidas Women’s Basketball

Candace Parker has made the transition from the basketball court to the C-suite. As the newly appointed president of adidas Women’s Basketball, the WNBA legend shares her vision for the brand.

Parker first partnered with Adidas in 2008 as a brand ambassador during her 16-year WNBA profession, and was quick to share her historic promotion after announcing her retirement earlier this yr.

With this latest enterprise, the 38-year-old hopes to prove she is a game-changer who will elevate the brand. Despite being a pioneer in the ladies’s basketball division with the Exhibit Select series, becoming a dominant force stays a challenge. She revealed that she spent hours with the Adidas team attempting to discover the corporate’s next era.

“We have conversations every day about, ‘Are we defining (that products are for) women? Are we doing this for?’” Parker said. “What is our ultimate goal and our mission?”

She added: “When we started thinking, I just want to continue to grow the game in any way I can. I’m not playing anymore, but what does that look like? It’s a credit to my team, who are really good at thinking ahead about how we can organically and authentically think about partnerships that have been a part of my career for a long time… Coming back to the basketball court, it was always about how I can have a bigger impact. I bleed the Three Stripes and I hope I’m synonymous with Adidas and vice versa. How can we do that together?”

Parker and Adidas share a typical goal of elevating women’s sports and athletes, and so they wish to prove that girls have the influence and marketing power to take the corporate to latest heights.

“You see the power and influence of female athletes and women in leadership,” she shared. “The main conversations were about the importance of brand, how can we best position ourselves to lead on that. As a brand, we’ve always been at the forefront. Adidas went from sponsoring the league to having a deep roster.”

That deep roster includes newcomers A’ja Wilson and Caitlin Clark, arguably not among the many WNBA’s best players. But Parker wants to construct those relationships to have a transformative impact in the long term.

She added: “There’s a lot of scrutiny that comes with being an athlete. Not to mention being a signature athlete. So we have to make sure that we’re able to provide that person with the resources to be successful… Women have been at the forefront and have been leading fashion for a very long time. Hopefully, we can create something futuristic and invest the brand’s marketing dollars into it to make sure it’s successful.”

While Parker still has an extended approach to go, her mission to steer adidas and ladies’s basketball will soon repay.

“My impact probably won’t be felt until next fall (2025) because the footwear and campaigns are planned so far into the future,” she said. “Where do we want to be as a brand in two to three years? We’re working backwards to get there.”