How Steph Curry Became The Most Wanted Man In Sneakers

Added: 2026-05-07

[00:00:00]How do you become the most wanted man in sneakers? [music] There's only one dude you can ask that question to in the NBA right now. And yes, he may be 38 years old. He may have just finished his 17th season in the association. He may have logged so many minutes and miles over the years that he was diagnosed with runner's knee in season 17 that limited him to just 35 regular season games. But throughout those 35 appearances, Steph Curry's value was not only witnessed once again on the hardwood, but in the marketplace.

[00:00:29]Because this season, Curry commanded the attention of the sneaker world more than any player since Kobe Bryant [music] and Michael Jordan. As the chef put together the greatest sneaker free agency we've ever seen. From the sudden breakup with Under Armour to donning a Nike swoosh for the first time in over a decade to players actively recruiting him throughout the season to brands giving him any PE he wanted proved by him auctioning off >> [music] >> his collection by the end of it. Anytime Steph laced up a new sneaker, that brand received instant spotlight and eyes on their product. This is what I like to call the Steph effect on brand marketing. This proof why Steph Curry is the most wanted man in sneakers. [music] So that leaves us with our main questions for today. Just how did Curry arrive here? And with all the leverage that comes with the title of most wanted man in sneakers, how will he use it to land a new deal? Or will he blaze an independent trail in the industry? A full breakdown of Steph's full [music] sneaker free agency and all that's ahead is next. This is Topic Tackle. Let's go.

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[00:02:11]Let's get back to the video.

[00:02:13]November 13th, 2025. [music] Where were you on this random Thursday when the news broke that Under Armour and Steph Curry were ending their lifetime deal?

[00:02:22]Maybe you heard about it through the video I put out about why Steph left UA.

[00:02:26]If you haven't seen it yet, I'll link in the description. Feel free to check out after this one. [music] For now, all I'll say about their split is that Under Armour made it seem like it would be amicable. Curry would retain the rights to his logo, trademark, and brand, but I guess Instagram followers weren't included in that package, strangely enough. Steph made the breakup official by donning the Nike swoosh for the first time in over a decade when he pulled out the Kobe 6 Mamba City Sweet 16 in pregame against the Spurs before switching back into his signature UA Curry 7 to drop 49 and a W. Yep, the Warriors really took two straight games against San Antonio on their home floor.

[00:03:02]So, if this feels like another lifetime ago, you're not wrong. Anyway, with Curry free to rock whatever he wanted on the floor, the floodgates were officially open for his sneaker free agency, and not only did brands send out whatever pairs he wanted, but players were on Curry watch and were actively recruiting him as well. competing against me in my shoe.

[00:03:23]You know, if anything, I thought it'd be the other way around.

[00:03:26]Um Yeah, truly crazy. Steph Curry, his name is worth probably close to a billion dollars, if not more, from just the legacy aspect. Hope he settles for nothing less. About to DM bro right now, bro.

[00:03:38]I would love to send you some 741s. [music] Chat sent. I just messaged Steph Curry, just DM'd him. I probably can't see it.

[00:03:46]>> [music] >> I just said I'd love to send you some 741s to warm up in.

[00:03:50]Hey, you miss every shot you don't take.

[00:03:52]Who knows that better than Steph Curry himself?

[00:03:57]>> [laughter] >> Oh, you don't miss no shots.

[00:03:58]Unfortunately for Brown, Steph didn't rock his independent 741 brand in the game, but one thing is clear. Curry embraced a wide variety of kicks over the season. What I'm about to show you are just some absolutely incredible statistics. The fact that somebody tracked this throughout the entire season for their job is one of the reasons why I love America. Shout out to Sole Retriever and writer Nicholas Vlahos because not only do we have an official website, currywatch.com, that tracked every shoe Steph wore through late January, but we also have official charts showcasing every sneaker he donned this season. Turns out Steph played the majority of his games post breakup from UA in the Curry Series 7.

[00:04:41]According to the article, Steph did state last summer that the shoe was hands-down the best basketball shoe I've ever worn, and even without a contractual obligation to lace the kicks [music] up, he wore the shoe five times, three of which came in the days immediately following the announcement of UA and Curry Brand separation. The other two instances were in late December, but since then there have been no UA moments on the court for Curry.

[00:05:03]The second most wears with four is a three-way tie, and this is where we begin to see the Chinese brands [music] have a presence. Anta, who makes the Kai 3, the third iteration of Kyrie Irving's signature model, checks in at this spot.

[00:05:15]Steph actually debuted the Kai 3 on court in late January in Dallas, stepping in for Irving, who missed the entire season due to injury. Also important to note, Steph was spotted during All-Star Weekend wearing a pair of the Anta Enclosure Type 2 with [music] his Curry Brand logo on the heel. That logo has never appeared on a shoe that was not made by Under Armour until this moment. [music] So, going back to the chart, there's significance in the four wears of the Kai 3, one wear of the KT 11, that's Klay Thompson's signature shoe, and one wear of SB enclosure type two as these are all under the Anta umbrella. Keep that in mind for later. There's also significance in the amount of time Steph laced up the [music] Li-Ning brand. The Way of Wade, a subsidiary of Li-Ning, showing up four times. The JB3, the signature sneaker of Steph's teammate Jimmy Butler, [music] shown up twice in the JB4 appearing once. With all this said though, there was one key trend that stood out in Curry's sneaker free agency and it's the amount of games in which he wore [music] a Nike signature shoe. Curry lacing up the swoosh in 42.4% of games played this season, more than doubles Anta, which is next up in [music] the pack. The Sabrina 3 and various Kobe Protro models were heavy in the rotation and the numbers are there to prove that Steph >> [music] >> just did it when lacing up a certain player's signature sneaker from the swoosh because half of his top performing sneakers were Nike signatures with the Kobe 9 and Kobe 4 [music] being the only kicks he posted averages of over 30 points per game in. But before we jump to any conclusions, I think we need to zoom out to the [music] 10,000 foot level on this if you will. It's just because, you know, Steph got buckets in the Kobes, that doesn't mean that Nike was the brand tied to the majority [music] of his individual success on the court throughout the season. Because if we take a look at Steph Curry performance by brand and [music] points per game, the winner goes to Li-Ning with 30.3 followed by Curry brand with 26.4, then Nike with 25.6.

[00:07:11][music] Of course, sample size matters here Nike has more of it, but this is still an interesting chart to look at. At the end of the day though, does any of this by the numbers stuff actually matter when it comes to [music] Steph's decision of who to sign with? Well, while I don't know if Steph has ever seen these charts, it's obvious how much this season of sneaker free agency meant to him by [music] how he chose to close it out. 81 shoes auctioned off for $1,721,728. [music] [music] That's right. Steph and his team assembled his entire sneaker free agency collection, including game-worn, pre-game, [music] and tunnel fit shoes, and auctioned them off with the proceeds going to Steph's Eat, Learn, Play Foundation for under-resourced kids [music] in Oakland.

[00:07:58]The top three shoes with the highest bids, you all ready for this? At number three, the Anta [music] Kai 3 Chinese New Year that Curry debuted in Dallas in late January, $70,400 for this game-worn pair at auction.

[00:08:11]Number two is the sneaker that kicked it all off, the Nike Kobe 6 Proto Mambacita Sweet 16 that Steph laced up during pre-game against the Spurs on November 14th. Winning bid, $76,800.

[00:08:23]And at number one, well, here's a quick backstory from Steph on that.

[00:08:26]>> 2010 Hyperdunks that I wore [music] um in my first ever Christmas Day game.

[00:08:31]These are the only pair that were the original uh pair that I wore [music] and brought back to wear again uh 15 years later, so the only ones you can get that check both boxes. This Christmas Day Hyperdunk PE [music] worn in both 2010 and 2025, $121,600.

[00:08:51]Looks like Santa came early for someone out there. Heck, you know, if you're spending over 100 grand on a pair of kicks, you might have a direct line to Santa himself. Actually, you know what?

[00:09:00]Hold it right there.

[00:09:01]You might just be Santa if you copping these. The level of thought that went into the sneaker free agency season from Steph and his team. Like, to wear Penny Hardaway shoe during warm-ups in Orlando, or to wear the Ferrari Jordan 14s [music] during warm-ups in Utah.

[00:09:15]That is pretty diabolical, according to Jazz fans, if you ask them, actually.

[00:09:21]But, you get the point. Steph absolutely embraced this opportunity. After all, this is a guy who went from getting his name mispronounced [music] by Nike over a decade ago to having the swoosh offering him a bag just to get him back.

[00:09:34]At age 38, it's a legendary turn of events right there if you ask me. And with the Warriors future in question, the future of Steph Curry's basketball career likewise has some questions hanging over it for the first time in a long time. And these questions extend off the court as well with one big decision that will involve hundreds of millions of dollars and could and really should last a lifetime. Which brand is Curry going to sign with next? Well, according to Sole Retriever, Curry has narrowed it down to three contenders and Anta is one of them. While the other two aren't mentioned, that's where y'all come in. So, given the news and how Steph's sneaker free agency season turned out, what brand do you think is next up for Curry? Or do you think there's a chance he chooses the independent route? I'll continue to follow this story and will keep y'all updated right here on Topic Tackling and in the meantime, feel free to stick around and check out the exact reason why Steph Curry left Under Armour and I'll be back with another episode of Topic Tackling. Coming soon, as always, stay solid, people.

[00:10:34]>> [music] [music]