Stephen Curry, the Golden State Warriors’ standout player, attributes his lifetime contract with Under Armour to his daughter Riley. Curry had to make a difficult decision in 2013: choose one of the various brands interested in representing him.
This occurred during a season in which Curry averaged 22.9 points per game, according to NBC Sports. It was also his first trip to the playoffs as a leader of his team. He asked his two-year-old daughter Riley to make the ultimate decision as a joke.
“My daughter Riley at the time was 2 and I was down at my agent’s house in LA, and we were just kind of messing around. I had a bag full of all the shoes I was wear-testing and I was getting to that final hour like, ‘What are you gonna do?’ I was messin’ around and said, ‘Riley come in here, let me put all these shoes around.’ So I had Nike, Adidas, Brand Black, and Under Armour shoes. I had them all laying around in the middle of the room and I told her, ‘Go pick your favorite and hand it to daddy,’” Curry shared with ESPN’s Nick DePaula on “The Sneaker Game.”
He continued, “Little did I know, her dramatic self, even at 2, she did the process of elimination. She didn’t just go for the first one. … She did the first three, threw them across the room, ran over, and handed me the Spawn. That was pretty much the end of it right there.”
Curry joined with Under Armour in 2013, earning $4 million per year, which eventually escalated to $20 million per year, based on his daughter’s decision, according to NBC Sports. The four-time NBA champion has matured with the brand throughout the years, and Under Armour will introduce the Curry Brand in 2020.
Curry was named president of Under Armour’s Curry Brand earlier this year, according to CNBC. He will also introduce new items in sectors such as basketball, golf, ladies, kids, and sports style.
Similar to Nike’s lifetime pact with Michael Jordan and LeBron James, Under Armour’s new contract with Curry mandates him to stay involved in all aspects of the brand even after his playing days are done. According to the site, Curry is the first athlete in Under Armour history to have debuted ten trademark sneakers together during the course of their cooperation.
“If the past 10 years have shown me anything, it’s that Under Armour and I can build great things together. In 2013, we bet on each other, and I’m all in on taking this next step together,” Curry remarked.