…is that we have a website devoted to NBA player’s shoes that just goes ahead and throws Maya Moore into the mix as worthy of mention without disclaimers. They don’t say “hey while we wait out the lockout and wonder if we’re going to see new shoes from the guys, um, here’s the WNBA. There’s this Maya chick and she’s pretty good…for a girl” They just say, “Maya is badass and she has some sick kicks. Please have many photos.”

In short, they treat her just like one of the guys, in the best possible way.

And…nowhere in the comments on her page (at least not yet) do you see the words “WNBA” and “sucks” in the same sentence.

People have commented that they think the shoes are ugly, or are bummed that it’s a limited selection compared to the NBA players on that site (who roll out new shoe styles and colorways every few games throughout the season), but the comments about Maya herself are all pretty positive. Lots of thumbs-up smilies and comments like “Ballin!”

That site also does several updates throughout the WNBA season on all the other players in general, including a special look at all the black & orange shoes at the ASG). Maya actually went through more different looks of shoes in a single season than most of the other players (Augustus, for example, wore the same blue/green player-exclusive colorway 2011 Zoom Hyperfuses all season), and is also a Jordan athlete (JORDANS!!!), which is why she’s got a few pages on that site devoted to just her.

They’ve also done focus pages in the past, on players like Candace Parker, who has a signature shoe with Adidas.

Is it all a giant capitalistic marketing tool? ;) Sure, but it’s still a lot of fun for those of us who like our shoes. :D

For the record, if the grey Fly Wades were available to mere mortals like me instead of being a player exclusive colorway, I’d already have them. I do like those Orion Blues almost as well, though!