Paige Bueckers, then 19 years old, got on stage at the nationally televised 2021 ESPY Awards show in New York City after winning Best College Athlete in Women’s Sports and demanded change.

In a scene that has been replayed on timeless occasions across social media, Bueckers used her own milestone moment to speak about racial disparities in sports business. Specifically, the University of Connecticut women’s basketball star asked for more sponsorship dollars and media opportunities to go to Black players.

In hindsight, this was Bueckers laying the foundation for her strategy around name, image and likeness (NIL), which the NCAA only started to permit earlier that month. Bueckers, who signed with talent agency Wasserman soon after the speech, has earned more than a million dollars in NIL deals and used her own fame to ensure those in her considerable orbit benefit, too.

The top WNBA prospect often presses brands to include her lesser-known teammates on specific deals while using her platform to grow the pipeline for minority content creators and advertisers. Even as mainstream conversation about racial issues has taken a sharp turn in the years since her speech—President Donald Trump was elected on a platform that explicitly pledged to end DEI (diversity, equity and inclusion) measures—Bueckers has not wavered in her beliefs.

Read More (via Sportico)