When it comes to basketball, Steph Curry and Kevin Durant are teammates united in the singular goal of winning a championship. But when it comes to the highly-competitive sneaker game, Curry and Durant are rivals, as the former is the face of Under Armour’s line of basketball gear while the latter is one of the many NBA stars signed to Nike.
It’s an interesting dynamic that plays out in every locker room. Each player wants to work with their teammates to get a ring, but off the floor, players are signed to various sneaker companies with the hopes of growing those brands.
For Curry, this dynamic plays out with Durant in a lighthearted way. The two-time MVP sat down with Sports Illustrated to discuss the sneaker wars in Golden State’s locker room, and mentioned that while it does not get in the way of their friendship, the two like to rip on one another’s kicks.
I mean, don’t get me wrong, everybody wants to have the hottest known shoe. That is why you are in the business, you want to be known as the best. But when it comes to me and KD and us being on the same team—him with Nike and me with Under Armour—that doesn’t get in the way of our personal relationship and what we do on the floor. I be looking at his shoes and he looks at my shoes and we be cracking jokes on them all of the time and all that kind of stuff—I’m interested in what colorways he’s got coming out and he is interested to see what we are bringing to the table, so all that stuff is part of being aware and interested in the sneaker game. At the end of the day, we all want to play well on the court, we all want to win and we all want to sell shoes, and I think we can accomplish all of that.
The Warriors have three dudes who are faces of their respective brands in their locker room between those two and Klay Thompson, who reps ANTA. There are plenty of opportunities to have some fun at the expense of a teammate’s footwear, whether that be by busting their chops or by using their kicks as a form of motivation going forward.
