The Man with The Purple Shoes: How Under Armor’s Big Gamble and Nike’s Disrespect Changed the Forecast of Sneakers Forever

by Chris Harewood

They say a man is most powerful when he doesn’t mind walking alone. I’d say that’s never truer than when he’s wearing lavender colored sneakers while dropping 40 on your head in the NBA finals – as an underdog.

Many hoopers dream of being signed to a sneaker deal when they make it to the league. From on court performance alone, Michael Jordan probably would still be an icon of sports endorsements, but it’s being signed to Nike and ushering in a new era of celebrity promoted and inspired basketball shoes that made him a legend that transcends mortality.

Many followed suit: from Charles Barkley and Scottie Pippen to the present era of Nike’s basketball vanguard which include the likes of Kyrie Irving, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Kevin Durant, LeBron James, and of course, the late, great Kobe Bean Bryant.

Stephen Curry, legendary sharpshooter for the Golden State Warriors, also started off signed with Nike, but an apparently lack of interest in giving Steph Curry his own basketball camp for young players – something that was important to him, and a sales pitch to retain his services that reportedly kicked off with the presenter mispronouncing his name as “Steph-on”, set in motion the sneaker deal heist of the century.

Curry, Under Armour saw their first superstar representative. With the help of their signed athlete and then teammate of Curry, Kent Bazemore, and a little assist from his daughter Riley Curry, Curry signed to the sportswear brand, and though he walked alone for a while as the brand’s only big time star, they now feature megastars such as Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and Tom Brady.

Nine years later, Curry is quite possibly the best player in the world, and well on his way to being a top 10 player of all time (if he isn’t already there), but that wasn’t the case when he signed in 2014. At the time, Curry had finally escaped the stigma surrounding him that stemmed from being an oft-injured, albeit talented, guard who never won anything. However, he had yet to win any championships or MVPs.

The following year, Curry won his first MVP and his first NBA Championship. Then followed more championships, another MVP, and now a finals MVP. Since signing to Under Armour, Curry has been the most decorated and accomplished player in the NBA.

Yet while his accomplishments have millions across the planet reassessing his place among the greats in league history, it can be argued that Under Armour has been even more successful because of him. Nike’s apathy towards the game’s greatest shooter has led to UA generating big business off the sales of his wildly popular Curry basketball sneakers. A report six years ago indicated that Curry was worth around 14 billion dollars to the brand, and he’s more popular now than he was then, so who knows what that number is now?

In Curry, kids see someone who more closely resembles the normalcy they embody; a far cry from the giants of the game like LeBron James and Joel Embiid, or the majestically abnormal physical specimens like Kevin Durant and Giannis Antetokounmpo.  While they can jump out of the gym because of their freakish athleticism, or shoot uncontested jumpers because of having a wingspan longer than Rhode Island, Curry has average to below average physical metrics that makes his game more palatable to the casual audience in spite of the fact that no human being on earth can shoot the ball the way he can.

He also has a squeaky clean, God fearing, and family-oriented image, is mannerly towards media and fans alike, and has a showmanship that captivates all who watch him.

Under Armour saw in him what Nike could not. Don’t be surprised if you see a bunch of kids and adults alike at your local YMCA wearing those same lavender sneakers that illuminated your TV screens a few weeks back.