Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry began his NBA career with Nike, and Draymond Green can’t help but wonder what might have been had he stayed with the sneaker giant. Curry has officially ended his 13-year partnership with Under Armour, and Green stated on The Draymond Green Show that the Curry Brand could have been as big as the Jordan Brand today if the guard had been with Nike for all those years.
“When you look at the Under Armour deal, I think it’s been great for him over the last 13 years,” Green said. “I think he has had some challenges over the years, be that the company isn’t a well-oiled machine like Nike or even Adidas, for that matter… But he being who he is and loyal as he is and dedicated to the things that he’s dedicated to, stuck through it, worked through them.
“Even at times when I think he could have decided to do that much earlier, but he made a commitment some 13 years ago, and he saw it through,” Green stated. “And so I commend him on that. Job well done. Built an incredible brand, an incredible line, had people wearing Under Armours like they were cool. No one was wearing Under Armour basketball.
“You only saw Under Armour on the football field,” Green continued. “And then Steph Curry went to Under Armour, and all of a sudden Under Armour basketball shoes became cool because they had the Steph Curry logo on them… As someone who kind of understands a little bit of the shoe business, it makes you take a step back and wonder what would his business be today had he gone to Nike or stayed with Nike, right?
“If Steph Curry stayed with Nike and became the Steph Curry that he was going to become, regardless of what shoe brand he was in,” Green added. “And he was building Curry brand under Nike, ala [Michael] Jordan, ala LeBron James, ala Kevin Durant, guys who have built brands with Nike. What if Steph was building that brand at Nike? You can only wonder how huge that would have been.
“I mean, I’ll go out on a limb and say if he was building that Nike, it may be as big as Jordan brand,” Green speculated. “Which is interesting. I mean, that’s saying a lot. No disrespect to MJ the goat. MJ, when it comes to the shoe business, has done it better than anyone ever have and probably better than anyone ever will. I really wonder if Steph was still with Nike, would it have become that?”
Curry signed with Nike in 2009 when he entered the NBA, and you figured there was a good chance he’d remain with a brand. The sneaker giant, however, made two major blunders when it attempted to re-sign him, and he chose to sign with Under Armour in 2013.
Curry’s rejection ended up costing Nike a lot, but Green thinks it has cost his teammate as well. The four-time All-Star believes Nike has the blueprint for marketing an athlete and the brand, unlike Under Armour.
The Curry Brand certainly would be bigger than it is today if Nike had been running the operation, as he has been one of the faces of the NBA for over a decade now. The 37-year-old has won four titles, a Finals MVP, two MVPs, and two scoring titles in his incredible career.
Curry has topped jersey sales at various points over the years, and one could argue he was the most marketable star in the league for quite some time. Still, would his brand have been as big as Michael Jordan’s?
According to Yahoo, Jordan Brand’s revenue for the 2025 fiscal year dropped 16%, but it was still at a ridiculous $7.3 billion. You’d think matching that number would have been next to impossible even for Curry. As Green said, Jordan has done a masterful job with Nike in the shoe business.
We could see Curry potentially sign with Nike now that he is a free agent. The 11-time All-Star sent social media into a frenzy when he was seen wearing the “Mambacita” Nike Kobe 6s during warmups before Friday’s game against the San Antonio Spurs.
Sneaker free agent Stephen Curry laces up the “Mambacita” Nike Kobe 6 👀👀 pic.twitter.com/dmm5YbjYnZ
— Nick DePaula (@NickDePaula) November 15, 2025
Curry is big enough to go solo as well, and it will be very interesting to see what he does next. His primary focus for now, though, would be to power the Warriors to victory against the Spurs.
