Golden State Warriors star Steph Curry announced on social media that he’s reached an agreement to take his Curry Brand to Li-Ning after spending most of last season as a sneaker free agent.
ESPN reported the deal is for 10 years and will offer basketball, athleisure and a full golf line. Curry can also sign athletes under his brand.
“The future of Curry Brand will be powered by a company truly rooted in sports and innovation,” Curry said in the social media post. “A partner dedicated to creating quality products with sneakers that I believe in that will continue to deliver at the highest level. … Together, we will continue the Curry Brand mission with stories, platforms and products that will inspire the next generation around the globe.”
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Curry had been with Under Armour since 2013. He and Under Armour announced in November 2025 that they mutually agreed to part ways. Curry began his career in 2009 with Nike.
Part of the deal to split with Under Armour allowed the 12-time NBA All-Star to keep Curry Brand and take it to another shoe company.
Curry wore shoes from multiple brands during the 2025-26 season. He auctioned the shoes in April, raising $1.7 million for his Eat. Learn. Play. Foundation.
Li-Ning was established in 1990, by former Chinese gymnast Li Ning, who won three gold, two silver and a bronze medal at the 1984 Olympics. Li-Ning shoes first appeared in the NBA in 2006, worn by Cleveland guard Damon Jones, making Li-Ning the first Chinese sports brand worn in the NBA.
The company’s big splash came in 2012 when it signed Miami Heat star Dwyane Wade and began producing his Way of Wade line. Curry’s teammate, Jimmy Butler, Houston’s Fred VanVleet, Atlanta’s CJ McCollum and D’Angelo Russell are among the NBA players also with Li-Ning.
Why this matters
There are a couple of components here that shouldn’t surprise us:
- That Curry went with a non-obvious brand, like Nike or adidas, is in line with his early-career decision to go with Under Armour. He instantly becomes Li-Ning’s biggest name, rather than sharing a brand with, say, LeBron James or Anthony Edwards. (Dwyane Wade has been Li-Ning’s most famous athlete endorser, with Jimmy Butler a distant second.)
2. That he thinks about his Curry Brand on a global scale, not a domestic one; NBA players — from Kobe Bryant to LeBron to Stephon Marbury — have long enjoyed massive popularity in Asian markets, fueling sales and global cachet. Curry follows in that tradition.
I am intrigued by his ability to sign athletes to his own brand, not unlike the way he did with DeAaron Fox, among others. Beyond potential NBA and WNBA athlete partners, the seismic change in the landscape since Curry launched Curry Brand is the NIL era of college sports. Li-Ning and Curry have a wide-open market to sign top U.S. college and high school sports stars — and perhaps select school-wide deals, too. (Curry’s alma mater Davidson feels like a natural match, as it was when Curry was with Under Armour.)
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The one detail I think is particularly notable: 10 years, the term of the deal. That extends far beyond even the most generous estimates of how much longer Curry might play in the NBA. This is intriguing as a post-career deal even more than as an immediate one.
The inspiration for Curry Brand has always felt like Michael Jordan’s Jordan Brand, down to the nomenclature. The multi-billion-dollar empire Jordan inspired to transcend his playing career seems to be Curry’s endgame, too.
Li-Ning isn’t Nike, of course, but that shouldn’t stop Curry from putting his energy towards a brand that has a chance to dominate hemispheres well beyond the West. — Dan Shanoff
