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WNBA star Jewell Loyd teams up with best friend’s son to bring autism awareness with her new sneaker release
Seattle Storm guard wanted authenticity and family to intersect with the release of her new player edition Nike G.T. Cut 3s
Jewell Loyd is one of the most decorated players in the WNBA. The Seattle Storm guard is a two-time WNBA champion, a five-time All-Star, and was voted to two All-WNBA selections. During the season’s debut, Loyd hit the court wearing her player edition of Nike’s G.T. Cut 3 in a dusty cactus and lilac bloom colorway. Her sneakers have special meaning, as 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 release. The 2015 WNBA Rookie of the Year also discussed changes in the league and what it’s like to jump from college to the pros.
The Seattle Storm star said she took the design to Nike. She wanted something authentic to represent her while attempting to push the sneaker giant out of its comfort zone. “I [told them] the best way to understand me 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 each other for a decade. Swann and Jewell met through mutual friends and clicked immediately. When Swann’s husband, former Florida State University guard Isaiah Swann, began playing basketball overseas, Loyd visited them during the summer. The visits were how she and the family forged their bond. The relationship between Loyd and the Swann family is at the center of the G.T. Cut 3s.
Laci Swann
Laci Swann
“He’s my little buddy,” Loyd said of Justice. “We just always connected.” She didn’t know many stories about sports and autism and wanted her new release to connect them to each other. “It’s bringing awareness, and it’s also educational,” she said. “[We’ve] been able to do that with this shoe.”
Justice covered the sneakers in smiley faces with Nike’s iconic swoosh for a mouth. Loyd said he was already drawing them around the house. His mother hired painters to cover the smileys, but the former Notre Dame hooper would make sure Swann took pictures to replicate them on the sneaker. “He ended up doing [the design],” she said. “So, it kind of worked out that way.”
Justice’s sister, Sloan, also had creative input. The shoe has two messages: “Ready, Set, Go!” on the outer sole by the heel and “Got you!” on the back. Swann wrote on Instagram that Nike used Sloan’s handwriting for both phrases. She said she told the company it could do whatever it wanted with her children’s ideas. Nike reps told her they needed her to specify the design because that’s what Loyd requested.
“Every last detail, from the laces to the inside colors to the patterns and face placement, my kids shared their ideas and thoughts,” she wrote. “Sloan’s handwriting on the back is the chef’s kiss.”
The 2014 ACC MVP said the sneaker’s release also helped others around her. Autistic friends and family members opened up to her about their diagnoses. People worldwide have reached out to her and are happy they can show their kids what’s possible. “There’s a story we can connect with [Justice] through sports, so it’s been really cool to see that,” she said. Loyd said she’s educating herself on how to help and provide more resources.
Some proceeds will help fund the Swanns’ summer camp for neurodivergent children through their nonprofit organization, the Little Boy Blue Foundation. The camp will be held in Tallahassee from July 22 to 26. They started the foundation after Justice was diagnosed in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Laci felt he was different when he was three months old. When the family moved to Italy, she noticed his speech regressed, and even though he said some words in Italian and English, she got him tested when he completely stopped speaking. “After being on quite a long waiting list, which is a common problem with families looking for a diagnosis, he did have a nonverbal, autistic diagnosis,” she said. “That’s when we jumped into advocacy mode and started to try and find resource therapies.”
Justice’s mother said the release has been significant for her family. It allows them to “have more opportunities to advocate for children with fewer resources or who are unfamiliar with autism,” she said. “[We’ve been able to] shine a light on all of the special qualities that neurodivergent children have, and it’s been a beautiful, wonderful surprise for us and everyone around us.”
Scott Eklund/NBAE via Getty Images
Loyd said it didn’t take long to pick a colorway. There were three to six iterations. However, the sneaker’s design is essentially a recreation of what Justice drew. She didn’t want to change that. “It’s more about making sure the colors he used, the markers, his favorite colors, the handwriting from his sister, and [to make sure that was] incorporated that on there as well,” she said. “So, it really was just putting us together, but it came together authentically.”
Nike wants to promote the G.T. Cut 3 as an official team shoe in the league, so it made sense to collaborate with them for her player editions. There are also other designs in the pipeline. “He did have [one] with some lightning bolts [that] I’m going to wear sometime this month,” she said.
The nine-year WNBA veteran enjoys the sneaker’s on-court performance because they give her an edge. They allow her to “stop on a dime” and “get off the ground even quicker” because she’s not “weighed down” by the shoe. “It’s really just that 1%, which I think is really important … that 1% rebound, that 1% angle. It cooperates with how I play,” she said. “It’s been really good, and I feel a difference [because of] the lightness.”
Jordan Johnson/NBAE via Getty Images
The “Gold Mamba,” as her close friend, Los Angeles Lakers legend Kobe Bryant, nicknamed her, debuted the shoes during one of the most highly anticipated WNBA seasons. Following the record-breaking ratings for the women’s NCAA tournament in March, some of the college game’s biggest stars began their pro careers on May 14. Loyd, who entered the league in 2015, said adjusting to the physicality is one of the most significant differences for adjusting to playing in the pros.
“You’re playing against people who’ve played overseas. They’re smarter,” she said. “People get paid to stop you and to score on you, so it’s a different physical and mental approach than college.”
The Storm finished with an 11-29 record last season and hopes for a turnaround after the return of former Notre Dame player and WNBA veteran Skylar Diggins-Smith. Loyd said it’s nice to hoop with her old college teammate as they and the Storm work to reestablish the rhythm that brought the organization championships in 2018 and 2020.
As she strives toward that goal, she’ll have the support of close friends every time she laces up her G.T. Cut 3s. According to Kixstats.com, Loyd has worn several different on-court sneaker models — Dallas Mavericks guard Kyrie Irving’s previous signature line, Kobe Bryant models and other Nike-branded shoes. But, if they were building a statue of her outside the Climate Pledge Arena, could she only be immortalized in one pair?
“I’m going to say the new ones. The ‘Justice’ edition,” she said.