A lifetime contract with Under Armour worth potentially $1 billion is underway for NBA player Stephen Curry, Rolling Stone reported. Similar to Michael Jordan, Curry would have his own subsidiary brand.
In 2013, Curry left Nike for Under Armour and signed a $4 million per year deal, which increased to $20 million after he extended his contract with them in 2015. However, things took a turn for the partnership when the designs for one of Curry’s sneakers came out, which received a lot of criticism online, with people calling one design “bowling” shoes and making jokes about the Curry 2 Low shoes.
The new Steph Curry shoes: When you got a basketball game at 6 but a bowling tournament at 8 😂 pic.twitter.com/U2w8LmSRWk
— Dan Keil (@Daniel_Keil) April 9, 2017
Boy if u don’t get these overpriced bowling ball shoes outta here @StephenCurry30 pic.twitter.com/5BhSvz9pdA
— 2022 (@CoreyDParker_) April 9, 2017
What’s your best name for these new Steph Curry Shuffleboard Lows? pic.twitter.com/wqDgKmpAxX
— SB Nation (@SBNation) June 10, 2016
Aye @UnderArmour did you steal these from my grandma pic.twitter.com/cECw83vfhz
— Colby (@WilkyColby) June 10, 2016
Do the new Steph Curry @UnderArmour shoes come with a pack of Werther’s hard candies? pic.twitter.com/aXnk6K6enJ
— steve ceruti (@Ceruti) June 10, 2016
Under Armour founder Kevin Plank claimed that the sneaker models were developed with Curry, while others claimed Plank was only concerned with the Under Armour logo on the shoes.
On top of that, Plank praised former president Donald Trump for his business-like mindset and called him “a real asset to the country.” the Golden State Warriors point guard responded by saying that the comment would be true if the “et” were removed.
“When you represent a company that big, you can’t just fly by the seat of your pants,” Curry stated.
In 2018, the NBA player threatened to leave the company because “certain things needed to change.” Eventually, Plank and Curry reached an agreement without things going too far.
“I don’t have to raise my voice to get mad,” Curry said. “That’s the best part about it.”
According to the interview with the Rolling Stone reporter, the lifetime deal with Under Armour was a part of his 2020 goals list that he allegedly kept inside his red iPhone.