Game Day
New Confidence, Same Shoes
“I know people say oh every time you lose you got to change your shoes. I am just like nah. I can’t change these shoes before we win another game so it might be time for me to change them.”
What everyone thought would be Diana Taurasi’s first game back for the season ended up being a much-needed team win without her. Head Coach Sandy Brondello said, “This is a great win for us. To win without Diana, that’s growth within a team. We couldn’t get any lower than what we were. But now we just have to keep building on that.” The talented Mercury team had their confidence back with this win after a three-game losing streak.
Almost all the players of the Phoenix Mercury wore the same shoes as the last home game against the LA Sparks on June 14th. I asked Essence Carson what she liked about her ‘Be True’ Kobe’s after wearing them for a couple of games. She admitted to not wanting to change her shoes until the team won again. She added, “I know people say oh every time you lose you got to change your shoes. I am just like nah. I can’t change these shoes before we win another game so it might be time for me to change them.” She insisted it wasn’t a superstition and she knew the shoes had positivity in them besides the Pride message of the shoes.
Essence pointed out she had other Kobe’s in her locker so we could see her rocking those in some upcoming games as well. Kobe’s seem to be popular within the Mercury as Briann January was wearing some yellow ones for the game that really popped from the court.
Riley Morrison was the Believe In Women Honoree of the game. She wrote a letter to Steph Curry about his shoes being available in only men’s sizes. She wanted to wear them as well but couldn’t. After her letter, Curry and Under Armor started making the shoes in women’s sizes too. This game was Riley’s first WNBA game and it was cool to see a game changer in how women are thought of in shoe culture, get recognized.
The LA Sparks had some new faces from the previous Phoenix matchup. Alana Beard and Candace Parker both got some good minutes in this game. Parker debuted the Sparks colorway of the Adidas Pro Bounce PE. They looked really cool on the court with the mostly purple shoe and yellow heel. The Sparks gave a great effort with 9 lead changes and 2 ties but the Mercury ultimately came away with the win.
It was apparent in the arena and in the locker room after the game, both the fans and the players were really excited for the win against the Sparks. Their next game will be at home against the Indiana Fever. I am sure we will see some changes in shoes and some gained confidence in the players of the Phoenix Mercury.
