adidas TS-Ace Commander Candace Parker Kicks

Player Edition

Well, they're finally here. After harassing adidas for almost 2 years to get some Candace Parker kicks out (why sign her and not make commercially available kicks for her in the year she wins, um, EVERYTHING??), I can't say they're worth the wait.

Commercial Edition

My complaints, in no particular order:

1) The sparks are fruity.
2) The paint splotches are silly.
3) The commercial issue has less obvious sparks (nice), but no true tip-of-the-hat to Ace either. (The player edition has Ace3 stitched on the side.)
4) The commercial issue has quite a random colorway. I'm pleased that adidas didn't think they had to go pink on us, but where did this come from? Not Sparks colors, not Tennessee colors... Maybe these match her uni overseas??
5) The size run is extremely low: women's sizes 8-10.5, and 12, on the adidas site. So girls and young women with small feet can't even buy them!

And now they're gonna blame Candace and women's basketball if they don't sell out!



On the upside, they have an adiprene, eva and climacool technology in the sole.

As seen on counterkicks.com.
Available online at adidas here. $90.

Candace Parker player editions

Last year Candace Parker did something no other basketball player has done, whether in the NBA or WNBA: She won an NCAA championship, an Olympic gold and the WNBA MVP and Rookie of the Year! And adidas still hasn't honored her with her own kicks! Crazy. If you go to the adidas website and type in Candace Parker, 4 men's Tennessee shirts come up. Why sign her if you're gonna treat her like that??

On the bright side, she's back on the court (after giving birth in May to a baby girl) and rocking some new adidas "CP Commander LT"s that at least have her Ace 3 sig on the tongue. Here they are:


No word of them getting out to us, but if they do I hope they have the TN colorway!

adidas Candace Parker Olympic PE pack

Candace Parker and the US women's basketball team are headed for the gold! They take on arch rivals Australia tomorrow (Saturday) morning at about 10am, US east coast time. Their depth and defense have led to a staggering win margin of over 40 points in most of their games, but Australia's definitely not falling like that! I think it's gonna be a nail-biter...

To celebrate their newest big name baller, adidas whipped together a player-exclusive pack including Ace's own Pilrahna (with LA Sparks colorway coming out as well), 2 colorways of a PE adiclub for chilling in between games, and some gear as well...

You can see how the Pilrahna is well-suited for Ace's slashing AND skying game. I bet she'll dunk in 'em soon...

Not entirely feeling the adiclubs so much...a bit golf-shoe like in the toe somehow...but I do like the clean colorways.

No images of the apparel yet...
Current images thanks to kixandthecity!

CP3 for the stripes!

Candace Parker playing in adidas as a Tennessee Lady Vol

In Boston there's an old-school saying dating back to when it was adidas-only in certain neighborhoods. You wanna show you're down (and not get beatdown)? It was "3 FOR THE STRIPES", with a lil 3-fingered hand sign too. Well, CP3 just switched it up a bit with a not-so-little endorsement of the brand with the 3 stripes. Wooed by both Nike and adidas probably more than any other team-sport female athlete, Candace made her choice. What made her pick adidas? FSF is gonna find out. Was it the dollar bills? (The contract hasn't been revealed yet, but estimates put it in the $2-3 million dollar range.) Or that they're kicking it off with 3 unique sneakers ? (No orange ones yet, from what I hear.) Could it have been that all the employees were wearing Candace shirts when she went to visit? Or that she'd been dunking in them at Tennessee for 3 (there's that number again) years, all the way to 3 All American selections (not to mention 2 national championships)? Or maybe she's down to start the Sisterhood to go along with adidas' brotherhood? I hope so! CP, if you're reading, 3 for the stripes!

More details from paidcontent.org:

"After meeting with the team at adidas and hearing about their future direction, I was extremely excited about continuing to be part of the adidas family," stated Parker. "There were a number of companies looking to partner with me, but adidas' commitment to the game of basketball, their WNBA partnership, their future direction and how I could be an extensive part of that made me feel like this was the perfect fit for my future."

"The successful future of the WNBA is defined by talented, team-oriented young players like Candace Parker. Candace has shown throughout her basketball career that she can and will do whatever her team needs to win," stated Jim Gatto, Head of Global Basketball Sports Marketing for adidas. "adidas is clearly focused on partnering with the best team-oriented players and creating the most innovative performance products paired with cutting-edge design. This combination will continue to generate strong momentum for both our basketball, training and women's business, and we expect Candace to play a key role in all these areas moving forward."