Last year’s NBA season feels like a lifetime ago. As a fan of the Phoenix Suns, the final two games of last year’s regular season are still stuck in my mind. After losing to the Portland Trailblazers during the NBA Play-In series, the Phoenix Suns had to come up big against none other than the Golden State Warriors. And that Friday night game way back in April had me wrapped up in a lot of feelings. After the Jimmy Butler ACL injury, the Warriors weren’t the same team. It was a game that the Suns had to win to get in and face the defending champs, OKC. You couldn’t think about the Warriors without thinking about Steph. Now Steph had done two things last season that had caused me to follow him a lot closer than I usually did. I have always known Steph is a champion. He knows how to win. He had one of the greatest Olympic moments of all time and his dynasty with the Warriors will not soon be forgotten. But last year, Curry walked away from Under Armour and had done something that I don’t think any NBA athlete has ever done. He could have worn any shoe on the market, and last year he tried on more than a few. Let’s get into it.
Stephen Curry was drafted in 2009 by the Golden State Warriors with the 7th overall pick. He was drafted out of Davidson College as a highly skilled shooter. At the time, he was considered a concern because of his size and his defensive capabilities. But as a rookie, Steph would prove the critics wrong by averaging 17 points a game and finishing 2nd in the Rookie of the Year voting behind Tyreek Evans.
Stephen Curry would quickly ascend to become one of the top talents in the NBA. And the sneaker executives took notice. When Nike pitched their offer to Curry, Niko Harrison didn’t pronounce Curry’s name correctly during the presentations, and Nike accidently included Kevin Durant’s name and image on a slide deck rather than Steph’s. What we know for sure is Nike had 6 signature athletes at the time and Steph could have been the face of a different brand instead of fighting for footing against 6 other superstars at Nike. Under Armour swooped in and signed the best shooter to ever play the game.
In 2015, Under Armour drops the Curry 1. It was All Star Weekend in New York City. Jamie Foxx was front and center on the ad campaign and the shoe looked incredible. Under Armour footwear sales nearly doubled. In the year 2020, Curry becomes his own brand underneath the UA umbrella just as Jordan Brand operates under Nike. And 12 years after it began, the partnership hits a pretty abrupt ending. So what happened? The answer might be simpler than expected. Marketing. Basketball is a culture. And the hoop shoe community didn’t really seem to embrace the brand because while innovative, the shoes did not seem to find their place in the market. A few silhouettes moved the needle in hoop culture but there were a few misfires over the years. Right after the red hot reception for the Curry 1, the Curry Chef II has been regarded to this day as one of the worst signature shoes of all time.
After 12 years with Under Armor, last season, Stephen Curry officially became a sneaker free agent. He took full advantage of the opportunity. The first time in over a decade, Steph wore a shoe other than his own signature shoe in a game, he chose the JB4 “Dark Knight”. According to Steph, no one knew he was going to wear them until right before tip-off. And when teammate Jimmy Butler noticed that Curry was wearing HIS shoe, Steph said the Jimmy “lost his mind”. So Steph made it habit to wear a signature shoe of an opponent that he would face in each city he traveled to.
If he was in Phoenix, he was wearing a Book 1. If he was in LA, he was wearing a Lebron. He showed up in shoes that were deep in the catalogue of Nike. He was pulling up in pairs that old heads like me haven’t seen in a long time. If your reader of Mid90s you have already read that when he played against Booker here at home, he reached out to Book and asked him to send over the hottest colorways. Book sent him a few and that night Steph hooped in the What the Book. I found myself checking to see what city Steph was in and what he would wear into the arena and what he had on court. Then I would check the box score of the game and the next thing you know, I’m becoming a part time Warriors fan, but an even bigger Steph fan.
And of course, Steph went on to do the most Steph thing he could do, he gave back to his community. Steph is the Co-Founder of the Eat. Learn. Play. Foundation in Oakland, CA. Steph took every pair he played in, signed them, auctioned them, and guess where the proceeds went? Pairs of Jordan 12s, Anta Kyrie 3s, Edison Chen AE 1s, J Kidds, Shocks all up for auction. The Uptempo ‘96 Olympic colorway that Pippen wore, and even the Shaqnosis, all included and up for the highest bid. All amazing, all auctioned through Sotheby’s.
The highest bid of the auction was for the pair 2010 PE Hyperdunks that sold for $121,600. Steph wore them on Christmas day against the Mavericks. The proceeds went to help the kids of Oakland that need the support the most.
So where does Steph go after sneaker free agency. Nike? Adidas? Adidas basketball is doing lot of things really well. The AE 1 was one of the biggest AAU and high school court shoes last year. The AE 2 is doing well. The Harden sneaker has a good place in the market. The Chinese brands like Anta (who Curry’s former teammate Klay Thompson is with) and Li-Ning (who Steph’s current teammate Jimmy Butler is with) are certainly worth considering.
Li-Ning signed Dwyane Wade and all the global exposure that came with deal was significant. And among all existing brands, he could make the choice of starting his own brand. He owns the branding and the logo from his Under Armour contract. Everything he built there is his. But you have to grow the manufacturing and that increases the margins. But he is one of the most marketable athletes on earth. His choices would take a great shoe and great branding.
Well, this summer, we got our answer. The greatest shooter on earth signed a reported 10 year deal with Li-Ning. Li-Ning is a Chinese gymnast turned entrepreneur. From the 1982 World Cup to the 1988 Olympics, Ning would win 14 World Cup Championships and 106 gold medals. But Ning has expressed that he does not focus on what he has done, but he fills his mind with future challenges. After he failed to reach his own expectations in ’88 Seoul Olympics, he decided to leave gymnastics and try something new. A new sports brand. His brand would become of the top sports brands in China. He hired designers to appeal to the kids that wanted to wear the brand on the streets and he hired scientists to create products that could perform for the highest level athletes. He then hires David Beckham to help the brand appeal to consumers outside of Asia. Ning’s experience as a top athlete in his sport and his ability to overcome adversity certainly has a lot of parallels with Curry’s career.
And now we have seen Steph at shoot arounds and private sessions wearing the Li-Ning Yushuai Ultra. And I didn’t want to love it, but I think I do. The contrast of the white upper on the “dust” outsole works. A lot of current hoop shoes are loud colors. The Ultra stands out by being subtle. The shoe has what Li-Ning calls “Boom” cushioning. The carbon fiber on the mid-foot is stylish but functional and the traction is very similar to the highly regarded Li-Ning signature shoe of Dwyane Wade, the Way Wade 12. “Yushuai” translates to Dominant General. This seems appropriate for a guy who has been the face of the Warrior franchise for almost two decades. The style of the shoe is inspired by his fingerprints. This detail is evident throughout the shoe as well as the box. And the best part is… the shoe can be found for $120.
Curry’s deal with Li-Ning is estimated at a worth of $400M. According to the rumors, it was not his top offer. Now the deal is done. For 7 months, SC wore the best of the best from every brand in the hoop shoe market. The two shoes that he felt the most comfortable in were the Jimmy Butler and the Dwyane Wade. Both Li-Ning. The brand will spill into Steph’s love of golf, with Curry branded golf shoes and apparel as well as Curry’s own line of leisure wear. The longevity of his contract with Li-Ning will certainly surpass the time he has left in the NBA. This pushes him into Jordan Brand territory where his shoes will still touch NBA hardwood but on a new generation of players’ feet.
I have loved basketball since I was a kid. I have watched an unhealthy amount of the sport throughout my life. If anyone ever asked me the best basketball game I have ever seen, it would be USA vs France. Its arguably the best 3 minutes and 8 seconds in basketball history. During the game, a camera operator catches Steph telling KD and Bron “give me the ball” and Curry takes over with pure confidence and fearless energy. Curry made eight 3 pointers that night, and he has made thousands in his career, but his “night night” fadeaway, one legged 3 over defenders Nicolas Batum and Evan Fournier, was the nail in the coffin for France. And team USA brought home Olympic Gold. It was a perfect moment. Steph wore the Under Armour Curry 12 “Podium Pack” in the navy colorway that night. Now that shoe is a time capsule of that moment. It’s a fitting way to wrap a bow around his time with UA. I hope Steph continues to have big moments as he begins this next chapter with Li-Ning. How could he not?