When the Sacramento Kings and Golden State Warriors faced off in the 2023 NBA playoffs, Stephen Curry and De'Aaron Fox went toe to toe…in the same shoes. Curry has grown into the Under Armour athlete in his rise to superstardom and now has his own brand within the company for his shoes. Fox is the first athlete to join the Warriors superstar's brand.

Fox is carving out his own star path as the Kings emerge as a playoff team with him and Domantas Sabonis leading the way. Curry expressed his excitement for Fox joining his brand, saying there’s no one better to have been the first on board.

“Throughout the playoffs — this happened a lot — our team would show the shoes and they're like, ‘Oh, he's wearing the Stephs,’” Fox said. “I'm like, ‘Well, imma bust his a** in his shoes.’ That's how I'm thinking about it. They're like, ‘Oh, you see someone with your shoes on you're like, I got 'em.’ And I'm like, ‘Well, what if you see someone with your shoes on and they’re coming at you?’ It's a mind game on both sides I feel like.”

Fox has the right attitude for someone wearing the shoes of another player. It's a huge status symbol to have your own shoe, let alone your own brand. Getting punked by such a player invites the easiest trash talk ever. Curry, though, clearly respects the Kings' young star and his game.

Once upon a time, Michael Jordan told Richard Hamilton and other Washington Wizards teammates that they weren’t good enough to wear his signature shoes. Curry doesn’t seem to have the cold, cutting mentality Jordan does (though that’s not to say he isn’t a fierce competitor). But if he does deep down, Fox has made the cut as one of the players who is good enough to rep the Curry Brand.

The Kings and Warriors will face off for the first time this season on Friday night at the Golden 1 Center. While it is cool to see Curry and Fox's connection, I have a feeling that the star big men from last year's playoff matchup won’t have a similar, friendly embrace.