Patrick Johnson 
It’s been a fairytale thus far for Under Armour and Steph Curry over the past two seasons. By now you know the story: sportswear giant Nike passed on Curry thanks to the basic blunder of doubting his star credibility. They even mispronounced his name in a pitch meeting, leaving the door open for upstart UA to swoop in and steal him away. But nobody could’ve predicted Curry and the Warriors to be as dominant as they’ve been. The back-to-back MVP has crushed 3-point records, leading his team to their historic 73-win regular season. His shoes, namely the UA Curry 2, have been unprecedented successes and all Curry-related sales are set to eclipse those of LeBron, KD, Kobe, and Kyrie combined this year.
But all of that success could reach a screeching halt if the Warriors lose to the Thunder tonight. It’d be the first bump in the road in an otherwise smooth progression to legitimate competition with Nike in the hoops world. The resurgence of Kevin Durant, a player that Under Armour strongly courted in order to solidify their basketball imprint only to see him resign with the Swoosh, has helped create the potential for a Nike Basketball fantasy: having three of the Swoosh’s top signature athletes face off in the NBA Finals, thus ending the Warriors’ dream season in dominant and emphatic fashion. It will be interesting to see how both the Warriors and Under Armour react if that’s the case, but don’t count out Golden State just yet. In an interview with Bleacher Report’s Uninterrupted, Warriors forward Draymond Green said he received a text from Kobe which read, “If making history was easy, why bother?”. Steph, the Dubs, and Under Armour are back to being underdogs for the first time in over two seasons. We’ll see how Curry responds tonight.
In the meantime, check out a preview of the UA Curry 2.5, a shoe Steph could potentially break out in the NBA Finals if the Warriors beat the odds and come back from a 3-1 deficit against the Thunder.
Photo by Mark D. Smith for USA TODAY Sports/ Eastbay
