On January 28, women’s performance activewear brand Athleta announced that they have added WNBA and Unrivaled stars Lexie Hull and Kate Martin to its Power of She Collective, which, “deepen its relationship with female athletes at every stage of their careers and further build on its mission of inspiring women and girls through movement.”
As part of this partnership with Athleta, Hull and Martin will be influencing product innovations, accessing personal and professional mentorship opportunities, and participating in the brand’s Power of She impact programs.
Women’s Fastbreak on SI spoke with Lexie Hull on Tuesday to discuss this partnership with Athleta, along with her time at Unrivaled and the future outlook for her Indiana Fever WNBA team.
Congrats on this partnership with Athleta, Lexie. I’m curious what it’s like to be part of a deal like this, which is another indicator of women’s basketball growth right now, and how you see yourself fitting in with Athleta?
LH: I’m super excited to be part of the Power of She Collective. Athleta is a brand founded by women, for women, and their whole mission is built around empowering women, bringing out the best sides of them, and giving them confidence.
I feel really fortunate, and I’m very excited to be part of initiatives and activations to Power of She Collective, and hopefully just inspiring young girls across all sports.
I love that. I was going to ask what you were most looking forward to about the partnership. Would it be inspiring young girls and being a role model for them?
LH: Yeah. Also, something that I was excited about was Athleta’s view on the partnership and it being more of a holistic partnership versus just taking pictures and being done type of thing.
I’m excited for those pictures and campaigns, but also being on the ground and being part of actual activations where I can meet girls and inspire girls in person.
You and Kate Martin played each other in Unrivaled last night, which was awesome to see. I’m just curious if you and Kate have had a chance to speak about Athleta while you’re both in Unrivaled?
LH: Yeah, we’re excited. She’s a great person. I knew her a little bit through Caitlin [Clark], but I am so excited that they’ve chosen Kate as someone I get to do a lot of things with, and I know she’s an inspiration to a lot of young girls.
That just goes to show that Athleta is working with people that they feel match their values and really want to be an inspiration. I think both of us are excited about being a positive change for women’s sports and having a brand like Athleta behind us to help drive that.
I spoke with [Rose BC coach] Nola Henry after Saturday’s Unrivaled game and she praised all you do that doesn’t always show up on the stat sheet. But during Saturday’s game, you showed up on the stat sheet as well. What stood out was how you were super active on the offensive boards and then a lot of back-cutting. Was that something that you had planned going into the game, or were you taking what was given to you?
LH: Just taking what’s given. Ultimately, every time I’ve stepped on the court, my focus is trying to have a positive impact in one way or another. If that’s crashing the glass, if that’s playing intense defense, if that’s cutting and trying to get easy looks for me and my teammates, that’s what I’ll do.
One of your Rose BC teammates, Angel Reese, is very big on offensive rebounding. I’m curious if you’ve got any tips from her, and what it has been like developing a connection with her and with your entire Rose team over these last couple of weeks?
LH: Yeah, it’s fun to play with Angel. Obviously watching her in college and then watching her, rookie year, she’s relentless on the boards. That’s really what it comes down to. She’s gonna crash the boards and she’s not gonna stop, and that’s how she gets so many of them. So I think just taking a piece out of that playbook of just being unruly and competitive like her.
That’s awesome. A big talking point of Unrivaled has been how it lines up with WNBA free agency. So I’m curious what you think about how Unrivaled has fostered this environment of free agency discussions among players, and whether you’ve done any free agency recruiting for the Fever so far?
LH: It’s honestly the perfect place for that to happen and the perfect time for that to happen. It’s pretty fun to be in the locker room, be in the training room and those conversations are happening every day.
People just talking about, well, where do you think so and so is gonna go? So it’s cool to hear the back end of things that you wouldn’t necessarily hear. And on the recruiting side, it’s just building those relationships with players and sharing what it’s like to play with the Fever.
I’ve talked to some girls. They asked what it’s like in Indiana and I’ll tell them. Hopefully, that has a positive reflection and they’ll be excited about potentially playing for the Fever one day.
That makes sense. One alluring factor for a lot of free agents would be getting to play with Caitlin Clark. I’m wondering if you’ve spoken to her about Unrivaled so far and if you know if she has been watching games?
LH: Yeah! We’ve talked a bunch, and she’s excited about the league and definitely has tuned in to several games. I know it’s hard for her to be on the sidelines, but I think she’s enjoying her time just training and getting a chance to take a breather.
But she’s definitely tuned in and she’s rooting for her friends and teammates. It’s fun to still have her support during the offseason.
I’m curious about your thoughts on Stephanie White, and what you’re expecting about working with her, in terms of your role within her offense?
LH: I’m really excited for this season and about the people that they’ve brought in to lead our team.
Stephanie offers great leadership and great experience and she’s coached winning teams, so I’m just excited to learn from her. The [coaching staff] is gonna make their trips down to Miami in a couple of weeks, so we’ll work out with them.
Stephanie is really passionate about the game and gonna hold all of us to a really high standard, which is what I think we all are eager to have and will translate to more wins and hopefully a further playoff push.
In terms of her style, I’m excited to get out and run and continue working on what I’ve been doing here, which is cutting and spreading the floor.
Fever fans can’t wait to see how White’s first season unfolds. But in the meantime, Hull is making her impact felt both on and off the court.
