Under Armour announces Stephen Curry brand to compete with Nike’s Jordan Brand
Launching December 1, Curry Brand will span footwear, apparel, and accessories, with each category being backed by Under Armour’s performance product innovations. Curry Brand isn’t solely focused on product, however. The imprint is all about giving back, similar to how Steph and his family have done since he was a kid, having grown up in the home of an NBA player, his father, Dell Curry.
“Play is a fundamental part of childhood and is critical to development. So much of who I am as a person and a leader today is because of playing sports as a kid,” Curry added. “I learned the value of hard work, resilience, teamwork, communication, time management—sports teach young athletes so many critical life skills, which is why I’m passionate about making sure everyone has access to these opportunities, first through my foundation and now through Curry Brand.”
“This is an opportunity to put a true investment around the purpose that I’ve been living out since I’ve been in the league, to elevate the relationship I have with Under Armour and to make this as authentic to me as possible,” Curry told Footwear News.
Curry is actively involved in product development
Curry is taking a big role in his new brand, and is actively involved in product development. When it launches on Dec. 1, it will initially feature men’s athletic performance wear for basketball and golf, two sports that are obviously close to Curry’s heart. Curry’s latest shoe, the court-ready Curry 8, will launch on CurryBrand.com on Dec. 11, and he’s pretty psyched about it.
“It’s the first true innovation story. It’s something I’ve never worn before,” Curry said in an interview with Footwear News. “It’s one of those experiences you have to put on your foot and find out [why it’s special]. It’s got technology and innovation that I’m excited for people to learn about.”
![a basketball player in a blue shirt: Feb 10, 2020; San Francisco, California, USA; Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry (30) warms up before the game against the Miami Heat at Chase Center. Mandatory Credit: Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports]({"default":{"load":"default","w":"80","h":"60","src":"//img-s-msn-com.akamaized.net/tenant/amp/entityid/BB1buJ3d.img?h=600&w=799&m=6&q=60&o=f&l=f&x=1817&y=793"},"size3column":{"load":"default","w":"62","h":"47","src":"//img-s-msn-com.akamaized.net/tenant/amp/entityid/BB1buJ3d.img?h=469&w=624&m=6&q=60&o=f&l=f&x=1817&y=793"},"size2column":{"load":"default","w":"62","h":"47","src":"//img-s-msn-com.akamaized.net/tenant/amp/entityid/BB1buJ3d.img?h=469&w=624&m=6&q=60&o=f&l=f&x=1817&y=793"}})
“When it comes to golf and running and training, those are part of my life in an extreme way,” Curry said via Footwear News. “But you’ve got to be strategic about how you roll out these categories. You don’t want to just take a fire hose from out the gate, but we are planting our flag and saying this is what we want to do, this is where we’re going and there will be amazing moments throughout this first year.”
More than a clothing brand
The Curry Brand’s business may be performance athletic wear, but it has a larger purpose than that. Part of the brand’s mission is to use some of the profits to provide kids more access to sports and teach them the benefits of participation.
Starting in Oakland, California, the Curry Brand will work with the Oakland Unified School District to launch basketball at each middle school, and it will also partner with a nonprofit organization, Positive Coaching Alliance, to bring professional coaching to all of the youth sports coaches in the area.
Curry told Footwear News that in the coming year he plans to create three safe spaces for kids to play, but that his goal is to create 25 safe play spaces in the next five years. This program will support approximately 8,000 middle school students.
WHO IS STEPHEN CURRY
Wardell Stephen “Steph” Curry II is an American professional basketball player for the Golden State Warriors of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Many analysts and players have called him the greatest shooter in NBA history. He is credited with revolutionizing the game of basketball by inspiring teams to regularly utilize the three-point shot. A six-time NBA All-Star, Curry has been named the NBA Most Valuable Player (MVP) twice and won three NBA championships with the Warriors.
The son of a former NBA player Dell and the older brother of current NBA player Seth, Curry played college basketball for the Davidson Wildcats. He set the all-time scoring record for both Davidson and the Southern Conference and was twice named the conference’s player of the year. During his sophomore year, Curry also set the single-season NCAA record for three-pointers made, and was then selected by the Warriors with the seventh overall pick in the 2009 NBA Draft.
In 2014–15, Curry won his first MVP award and led the Warriors to their first championship since 1975. The following season, he became the first player in NBA history to be elected MVP by a unanimous vote and to lead the league in scoring while shooting above 50–40–90. That same year, the Warriors broke the record for the most wins in an NBA season en route to reaching the 2016 NBA Finals, which they lost to the Cleveland Cavaliers. Curry helped the Warriors return to the NBA Finals in 2017, 2018 and 2019, winning back-to-back titles in 2017 and 2018, before being defeated by the Toronto Raptors in 2019.
During the 2012–13 season, Curry set the NBA record for three-pointers made in a regular season, with 272. He surpassed that record in 2015 with 286, and again in 2016 with 402. Curry is currently third in all-time made three-pointers in NBA history, and alongside teammate Klay Thompson, the pair have earned the nickname of the Splash Brothers; in 2013–14, they set the record for combined three-pointers in an NBA season with 484, a record they broke the following season (525), and again in the 2015–16 season (678).
