The WNBA's new jerseys were leaked early, and someone butchered the name of one of the league's biggest stars
- New WNBA threads for the Washington Mystics appear to have leaked via Dick's Sporting Goods stores.
- Some of the new uniforms misspelled the last name of Washington superstar Elena Delle Donne.
- The two-time league MVP and six-time All-Star's last name is hyphenated on the back of the jerseys.
WNBA teams appear to be getting some swanky new jerseys. But for some players, the fresh threads come at a price: a misspelled name on the back.
Photos of new uniforms for Washington Mystics fans have been circulating on social media in recent days. Fans appear to have stumbled on the not-yet-released Nike Explorer edition and Nike Rebel Edition WNBA jerseys for the DC-based squad at Dick's Sporting Goods.
Winsidr's Aryeh Schwartz later confirmed that both threads were selling for $100 at a local store.
Unfortunately, Washington's biggest star won't be able to fully relish the premature merchandise release. The new No. 11 uniforms honoring Mystics forward Elena Delle Donne - the two-time league MVP, six-time All-Star, and first WNBA player to join the elusive 50-40-90 club - feature a big typo; her last name is written as "Delle-Donne" across the back of the jerseys even though her surname is definitively not spelled with a hyphen.
Here is how her name looks on her actual jersey.
What could have been an exciting moment for the WNBA and its athletes became yet another instance of disparate treatment between athletes on the men's and women's sides of sports. Delle Donne's Washington teammate, Natasha Cloud, took to Twitter to lament the mistake and defend her team's superstar, suggesting that "Y'all would never see a mistake like that to a franchise player on the men's side."
The extent of distribution of the jerseys with Delle Donne's name misspelled remains unclear. Regardless, there's no question that whoever was responsible for producing the threads should have double-checked the final product.