For Ari Chambers, who coined the word “the WNBA is so important” and lives this fact every day, a collaboration with Wilson on a newly designed basketball felt like an herbal extension of his work.
“This goes to WNBA representation because if we need more equity, we need more visibility for women’s sport,” Chambers said. “It is imperative that we make this investment. “
Wilson agreed, which is why he approached Chambers to help him design the ball. The WNBA has more than one moment: it’s a league with greater visibility than at any time in a generation, with no one capturing the spirit of the era more absolutely than Chambers, and therefore the new ball, which will be held this week, is just a representation of that progress.
On Wednesday, Aug. 17, you can get a first look at the $96. 19 ball at Wilson’s store on Columbus Circle and meet Chambers where she lives, wherever women’s soccer is growing.
Assembly is accidental.
Wilson’s Ari Chambers Basketball. (Photo Wilson)
Chambers is the author of HighlightHer, a social network and media outlet under the bleacher Report umbrella. And it’s no wonder that with Chambers boldly bringing it with her prisonerless technique to storytelling in women’s sports, the Instagram account alone has surpassed 200,000 followers.
“I don’t think I’ve ever analyzed the scale of the movement,” Chambers said when asked about that large circular number. “And that’s all I have to paint about myself. .
Chambers never rests on his laurels. She may have simply been left alone in the women’s basketball area, a position she said was safer, busy with other people she has known for years, with whom she grew up in many cases, but instead, you can find her learning about women’s football again. even surfing.
“If we want to try to make this mainstream, we want to make sure that all women’s sports are mainstream,” Chambers said. “That means I’m in Huntington Beach to cover the SURF of the US Open. That means I’m in AU (Athletes Unlimited), with softball and I’m creating content around that. I think as long as you’re willing to listen, that makes you a better journalist.
Chambers pays attention and other people pay attention to it. You can find her everywhere in those days, but her true love is the WNBA, where there is also a broad understanding of her role in elevating the sport.
The ball, which includes nods to her home state of North Carolina, and even whose award reflects critical moments in women’s history: 96 for the year the WNBA announced, 19 for the 19th Amendment, women’s suffrage, carries that message.
“This basketball is committed to the long-term storytelling and celebrating innovative reporting from women and non-binary athletes around the world. “
It’s hard to think of a better way to sum up Chambers’ own influence.