The NBA offseason was riddled with shocking trades, impressive acquisitions, and yeah… sneaker wars. From free agents looking for a new brand to sport during the season, to Golden State Warriors forward and newly-crowned champion Kevin Durant giving Under Armour a bad name, by saying kids at the college level don't want to wear their shoes.
His teammate, Stephen Curry, who has become the face of UA during the last few years, turned down any notion of truth to Durant's opinion, hashing it out in private later down the road.
But ever since the two joined forces at the start of the 2016-17 season, there has been plenty of speculation that both would be avidly competing in a sneaker-crazed market like the Bay Area.
“This world is huge, and there's enough space for all of us,” Curry said during a trip to China that concluded on Sunday, according to Sam Amick of USA TODAY Sports. “We're all different. We're all unique. We all have different stories, and we try to bring that to life with the things we represent from a product standpoint, and a brand standpoint.”
“(The idea of) whether it's a competition, or this kind of inner locker room rivalry, or a battle of whose shoes are the most popular and all that kind of stuff, it's not.”
Curry's deal with Under Armour includes a stake in ownership, which is reportedly netting him about $12 million per year, according to Forbes.
Durant and Curry posed for an Instagram photo upon arriving in Shenzhen, captioned “Why so serious?” with the hashtag #sneakerwars.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BZ3Zf-bgIFV/
The company has struggled to produce revenue after the release of the Curry 3 last season, with its stock going down 44 percent since the start of the fiscal year, and an additional 3 percent just days after Durant's comments.
Yet the two have shown no signs of a rift on or off the court, with their synchronicity unaffected by things said in the past.
It's been a tough year for the sneaker industry in general, and the two Warriors stars are likely very aware of it — but with markets like the Bay Area and New York being huge for sneaker heads, there's always enough profit to be reaper for both stars.
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