Caitlin Clark video thumbnail Mykal McEldowney/IndyStar / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Caitlin Clark Corrects Fever Teammate Belief About Viral Nike Dog Shoe Design

Originally posted on Women's Fastbreak on SI
By Grant Young | Last updated Jun 17, 2025 6:45 PM ET

Ahead of the Indiana Fever's June 14 game against the New York Liberty, star guard Caitlin Clark (who was playing in her first game back after missing five straight contests because of a left quad strain) went viral for the Nike shoes she was wearing.

The Fever's X account made a post pregame that showed Clark warming up while wearing the shoes with the caption, "Caitlin Clark is debuting her new Nike Kobe 6 Protro PE's 'The Bellas' in honor of her dog, Bella, today against New York ".

They followed this up with another post that slowed up-close video of the Nike shoe's design, which was captioned, "all the details of Caitlin Clark's Nike Protro PE's 'The Bellas' in honor of her dog, Bella ".

all the details of Caitlin Clark's Nike Protro PE's "The Bellas" in honor of her dog, Bella https://t.co/Sh0r8DSFH7 pic.twitter.com/9HSAaqMJhR
— Indiana Fever (@IndianaFever) June 14, 2025

Both of these posts went viral. However, some of Clark's Fever teammates got something wrong about the design, which she set the record straight about before her team's June 17 game against the Connecticut Sun.

"Honestly, Nike asked me what I wanted to do with some of the Kobe's that I wear throughout the season. And my dog is really important to me, it's my childhood dog that I grew up with," Clark said, per an X post from Yahoo Sports. "The shoe was basically all golden, and then obviously, the tongue of the shoe was pink, for a golden retriever (or any dog, really). And then on the sock liner of my shoe, it was a picture of my dog.

"A lot of my teammates thought it was like some random graphic I found on the internet, but it was actually my dog," Clark added with a laugh.

"A lot of my teammates thought it was like a some random graphic I found on the internet, but it was actually my dog."

Caitlin Clark discusses the details of her Nike Protro PE's "The Bellas" in honor of her dog, Bella pic.twitter.com/5nFE4Zixo9
— Yahoo Sports (@YahooSports) June 17, 2025