Curry Signs $400M Deal With Li-Ning, Leaving Under Armour Behind for Chinese Brand

Stephen Curry did not take the biggest check on the table. That is probably the most interesting sentence in a story that is already plenty interesting.

The Golden State Warriors guard announced Monday a 10-year deal with Chinese sportswear company Li-Ning, ending what had amounted to a months-long public audition of competing brands. According to ESPN's Shams Charania, as reported by Yahoo Sports, the deal is worth over $400 million. The same report noted that Curry had at least one other offer that was more lucrative and passed on it anyway.

The business logic is not hard to follow. <cite index="8-21,8-22">Li-Ning was started in 1990 by Chinese gymnast and Olympic gold medalist Li Ning, and the company posted roughly $4.3 billion in revenue last year, with over 98 percent of that coming from the domestic Chinese market.</cite> Curry is one of the most recognizable athletes in China. <cite index="8-23,8-24">The deal is expected to further boost Li-Ning's popularity at home while helping the brand expand its market share in the U.S., and Curry has now made seven trips to China, with recent tours drawing massive crowds.</cite>

<cite index="14-12,14-13,14-14">The 10-year, $400 million contract expands Curry's Curry Brand venture globally and covers basketball products, athleisure lifestyle wear, the ability to sign athletes under his brand, and a full golf line, per ESPN.</cite>

The split from Under Armour, which preceded all of this, was itself a jolt. <cite index="13-11,13-12">Curry had been a sneaker free agent since his split with Under Armour last November, ending a 12-year partnership that had made him one of the main faces of the company.</cite> Before that, he was a Nike athlete. The trail from Nike to Under Armour to Li-Ning tracks the arc of where the money and the markets have moved.

As for why Li-Ning specifically, <cite index="14-3">one factor in Curry's decision was his comfort while testing the shoes of two Li-Ning signature athletes: his Warriors teammate Jimmy Butler and Dwyane Wade.</cite> <cite index="8-27">Meanwhile, Anta, China's largest sportswear conglomerate, signed a lifetime partnership with Klay Thompson earlier this year.</cite> <cite index="8-29">Both of the original Splash Brothers are now signed with Chinese footwear brands, tapping into a market where they already enjoy a massive fanbase.</cite> That is not a coincidence. It is a strategy.

The deal is not without friction. <cite index="14-15,14-16,14-17">Li-Ning and several other Chinese companies have been identified by U.S. government agencies and human rights groups as using forced labor to produce goods, and Li-Ning merchandise was actually banned in the United States in 2022. Rep. Chris Smith, a New Jersey Republican who co-chairs the Congressional-Executive Commission on China, said he plans to ask the Department of Homeland Security to examine Li-Ning imports, according to ESPN.</cite> That congressional response landed one day after Curry's announcement. It will not be the last word on the subject.

<cite index="14-4">Li-Ning plans to build Curry Brand stores in both the United States and China.</cite> How exactly that works given the 2022 import ban is a question that Curry's camp, and presumably Li-Ning's lawyers, will need to answer with something more specific than an Instagram video.

Curry is 38 years old, heading into his 18th NBA season. <cite index="17-19,17-20">The most intriguing part of the partnership may be the length of the deal itself. A 10-year commitment at this stage of Curry's career suggests he is thinking well beyond what shoes he will wear over the next few NBA seasons.</cite> When the playing days end, the brand is the business. He is betting it plays better in Beijing than Baltimore.

Sources cited:
- ESPN (Shams Charania) (https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/48940127/stephen-curry-signs-chinese-sportswear-company-li-ning)
- CNN (https://www.cnn.com/2026/06/02/sport/steph-curry-li-ning-deal-intl-hnk)
- Yahoo Sports (https://sports.yahoo.com/nba/breaking-news/article/stephen-curry-signs-new-shoe-deal-with-chinese-company-li-ning-reportedly-worth-over-400-million-after-under-armour-split-221435271.html)
- Golden State of Mind (https://www.goldenstateofmind.com/warriors-news/110976/dub-hub-steph-currys-new-li-ning-shoe-deal-reportedly-worth-over-400-million)