Origin of the WNBA’s iconic orange hoodie – New York Daily News

Excerpted from HOOP MUSES: An Insider’s Guide to Pop Culture and the (Women’s) Game ©2023 Kate Fagan, Seimone Augustus, and Sophia Chang. Reprinted by permission from Twelve Books/Hachette Book Group.

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Written by Kate Fagan, Curated by Seimone Augustus, and Illustrated by Sophia Chang

THE HOODIE THAT TURNED A MILLON HEADS/ORIGIN OF THE WNBA’S BEST-SELLING PIECE OF GEAR

The seeds of the phenomenon were planted during a routine exchange in 2019. Kobe Bryant had visited the WNBA league offices in New York City, and as he was leaving, Eb Jones handed the legend three bags of W gear, including a statement orange hoodie with the WNBA silhouette.

At the time, Jones oversaw the league’s content and influencer strategy. Delivering the gear to Kobe was a Hail Mary — no way would Kobe wear the orange hoodie, Jones assumed. Jones had hand-selected the sweatshirt to become the league’s signature piece, although she wavered on the choice because the W plays in the summer. Nobody would want a hoodie during the summer, she reasoned. But then again, the piece was bold and simple. She kept coming back to it. “The hoodie was a simple design that looks good on everybody and was gender-neutral,” Jones told Sports Illustrated.

In partnership with ESPN, Jones and the W sent out hundreds of orange hoodies to players in the W and the NBA, as well as influencers (and women’s sports advocates) like Gabrielle Union and Robin Roberts. The first big moment for the hoodie came in August 2019 when Las Vegas Aces star, and future WNBA MVP, A’ja Wilson wore the orange sweatshirt on the sidelines while injured. “And that’s what first started the frenzy,” Jones told SI.

But at that point, the hoodie was still just a piece of gear. A popular piece of gear, yes, but nothing more. Then three things happened, one uplifting, the next two tragic. At the end of December, in 2019, Kobe sat courtside at the Staples Center with his daughter Gianna. He wore a Philadelphia Eagles beanie and…the orange hoodie. “It was just a fan thing before he wore it,” Jones said. “But when Kobe wore it, it became a fashion statement.”

When Kobe and Gianna died, along with seven others, in a helicopter crash less than a month later, that photo of Kobe in the WNBA hoodie was used in thousands of media reports. It was one of the last photos ever taken of him with his daughter. And suddenly the hoodie came to mean so much more: it became a symbol of supporting women, investing in women, and honoring the connection that Kobe had with his daughter, as well as with the women’s game.

Six weeks after the devastating helicopter crash, the world was hit with the COVID pandemic. The NBA season was paused. As summer approached, both the NBA and the WNBA planned to play their…