Helping put the W in espnW...

Adena Andrews is a founding member of the new espnW, a site dedicated to female athletes and fans. Her basketball background, interviewing skills and writing style might have got her the gig, but her kicks are helping her on every step of this new path...

by Lori Lobenstine

What’s it like working for espnW right from its inception?  (Adena covers the NBA, WNBA, college hoops and more. Her work can be found here.)

It is a wild ride! Everything is game at a startup. Ideas are flowing all over the place and everyone is electric. When you have the power of the four letters behind your ideas [espn], the sky is the limit. I’m happy to be a founding member.

Adena and her "lime greens"

What do professional basketball players say about your kicks when you interview them?

I walk into locker rooms and the guys be like, “I see you with the lime green kicks!” Or they will say, “What you know about them Dunks girl?” Sneakers get me respect in the NBA world. My favorite sneaker head moment was when I was rocking some black and white Converse designed by John Varvatos that I had got for free from the Converse gifting suite during All-Star Weekend. I waited in a lobby for two hours for these and they were free, so you know they felt good on my feet. Free always feels better. Anyway, I walked past Dr. J (yes, that Dr. J!) at an Orlando Magic game in Orlando. I had interviewed him earlier that day, so he recognized me. When I walked by he said, “Nice sneakers.” I almost could have died! Dr. J. Mr. Converse. The first ever dunk contest winner. The man whose picture was on my wall as a little girl, complimented MY SNEAKERS! At that point, I could have died a happy woman. I will tell my children that story.

"Nice sneakers," said Dr. J!

Speaking of basketball, I heard you were quite a player back in the day. How does your hoops background influence your footwear selection?

I played basketball and sneakers were essential for performance. But you also had to look good while doing it. My cousin from Brooklyn would stay with me when I was in middle school, and I would rock his sneakers. The Grant Hills, different color Uptowns, he had them all! So that means, I was styling too! In high school it was the Gary Payton Gloves. I think my mom actually paid full price for those too. So that was a big deal. They were the sneakers I played varsity basketball in. I loved them because they represented the best defender of his time, and I was a defensive specialist on my team. Every rebound and steal belonged to me. Oddly enough, the shoes were so tight, that they cut off my circulation when I was playing. My feet would get tingly and numb while I played. That wasn’t a good look. But I looked and felt fly when I was on the court, and that’s all that mattered. Now all my sneakers are basketball inspired. I fell in love with my first pair of Dunks that I bought in Harlem on 125th at Dr.Jays. They were neon colored. My goal was to wear them when I moved to Atlanta at age 22, so everyone knew the deal when they looked at my feet. I’m from NY and my sneaker game is so sincere!

Going even further back, what was the first sneaker you fell in love with?

I fell in love with Chucks first actually. There was this AIDS Walk commercial that used to come on television in New York and there were little cartoon characters wearing Chuck Taylor type sneakers. I might have been 12. I kept telling my mom “I want those sneakers. You know from the commercial.” I didn’t know the name of them though. But one day I found them and fell in love.

What’s do your friends or family say about you being a female sneaker fiend? 

At first your friends and family don’t understand your love for sneakers. My friends would always call me a tomboy and say, “Your feet are going to get big if you keep wearing sneakers.” (I have a size 10 foot, so maybe they were right.)  Now my friends love it. They are like “I see you with the new news! Get ‘em.” My one guy friend, who I kind of have a crush on, he may not want to share his emotions with me but he always shares hot sneakers with me. When I was really upset and not speaking to him, he sent me a picture of his Spizike Jordans and said, “I know you’re not talking to me but, I knew only you would appreciate these”. I almost melted. We are cool now.

Adena posing with NBA legend Dominique Wilkins. Yes, espnW has its perks!

What else would you like to tell other female sneaker fiends? 

Embrace your love for sneakers. They will open up doors for you. They make you unique. Not every chick can carry herself in a womanly fashion in a pair of Dunks. It takes a special girl to do that and you are that girl.