Steph Curry is used to making waves on the basketball court, whether it’s by taking and making ridiculous 3s or putting a defender on ice skates with his silky smooth moves. Last week, though, he was in the news for something that happened off the court. It also amounted to a surprisingly serious public discourse.
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Well, it was announced that in February, he would part ways with his longtime partner, Under Armour. Everyone around the league is now wondering what Steph and his Curry Brand will do. And he’s added fuel to the fire by rocking a variety of sneakers from different companies during pregame warmups.
Curry has been seen in Nike Kobe 6s, Reebok’s Shaqnosis line, and Li-Ning Stingray Way of Wades. If his current pattern holds, he’ll probably wear some Adidas Lillards when the Warriors take on the Blazers tonight. It feels like Steph is a person who just got out of a long-term relationship and is now playing the field a bit to flex his newfound freedom.
On the newest episode of 7PM in Brooklyn, Carmelo Anthony suggested that staying independent and not signing with one of the big companies is the best move Steph could make. “I don’t wanna see that,” Melo said of Steph wearing another company’s shoes.
Anthony wants Curry to build the Curry brand into something bigger. “You could take that brand from Under Armour and go get $400, $500 million, you could go do that — Nike, Adidas, Reebok, somebody — and they would all be willing to do that because the business makes sense,” he suggested.
“But now, you own this, this is yours,” continued Melo. “I don’t need the Nikes, I don’t need the Adidas, I don’t need that.”
Melo believes instead that Steph should partner up with an investor and make Curry Brand its own independent thing, not tied to anyone else. He added that the other players don’t do it because they don’t need to, since they are part of a bigger brand.
Anthony cited himself as his example, saying that his brand was under the Jordan brand, which was part of the Nike empire. The same is true for LeBron and Nike, Anthony Edwards and Adidas, etc.
The difference here is that Steph basically made Under Armour sneakers. Without him, that brand was nothing. So he’s the one bringing that value, so why not go independent and create something himself?
Steph is obviously enjoying being on the market, so to speak. Perhaps even more so since he’s been with the Warriors his entire career and has never experienced any kind of free agency before. It’s nice to be wanted, and he knows that every other company would happily partner up with him in a heartbeat.
Barring an announcement that doesn’t seem like it’s imminent, we’ll probably see Steph wearing many more kicks in the weeks and months to come. We’ll see if he eventually takes Melo’s advice or goes down a more traditional path.
