Curry's Li-Ning Deal Is a Shot at His Own Jordan Brand

Steph Curry is still chasing the kind of standalone empire Michael Jordan built at Nike. The sneaker company he just signed with, China’s Li-Ning, is chasing something too: a place among the world’s biggest sportswear brands.

Curry’s long-term deal with Li-Ning, announced Monday, comes a little over six months since the two-time NBA MVP left Under Armour following a 12-year run, something Under Armour is selling to shareholders as part of a broader sports reset.

That the four-time NBA champion would sign with a Chinese sneaker company over well-known U.S. giants like Nike or Adidas seems stunning, but experts are unsurprised.

“I was not shocked,” Telsey Advisory Group analyst Cristina Fernández tells Front Office Sports. “I thought one of the two Chinese brands—Li-Ning or Anta—would be most likely. Li-Ning was probably willing to offer a lot of money and other things Curry wanted.”

Fernández, who has covered Under Armour for years, has a strong sense of what Curry sought to build at Under Armour. “His vision was for the brand to become bigger than it ever did, have stores, and sign other athletes—things Under Armour talked about, but never really did.”