Steph Curry announces new sneaker partnership with Li-Ning
Steph just announced his new sneaker partnership with Li-Ning joining his teammate Jimmy Butler
https://youtu.be/J8kIZGKK-GQ?si=vX2PIfgDuvfeRfSc
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Can’t wait to buy his Ni-MBYs
lmao nice
I see what you did there🙌
What did he do
He asked the city for approval to build a privacy fence because the city was building an apartment complex that would have a direct view to his background where his kids played. they wouldn’t approve it, so he voted no on building the apartment
Nike really hurt him, eh?
Nike is just a bloated brand carried by their name like McDonald’s nowadaysÂ
They do suck now and idk what happened
The hypebeast era did a lot of damage imo
When an entire generation grows up with not being able to buy your shoes because of artificial scarcity, they end up turning to other brands.
They tried to go DTC and it backfired, and then fired their CEO for making the brand uncool. Now they’re playing catchup because On Cloud, Adidas, ASICS, etc are competing with them
Yup, retail foot stores started stocking more new balance, asics, On cloud and Hoka because Nike reduced their stock. They don’t understand that part of the benefit of sending their shoes to retailers is putting it in front of more eyes. Now they indirectly forced people who don’t live by Nike stores to try other brands, and people ended up realizing they were better.
Pretty much this. Nike also hasn’t really innovated much. Tbf neither has Adidas but adidas at least has a core design philosophy that their shoes are timeless. My close is legit Samba/Spezial/Stan Smith lol. Nike’s designs are cool until they aren’t. The big colorful flashy boxy thing works for a time until they don’t. It’s harder to pair Jordans with the rest of one’s wardrobe - adidas doesn’t have that issue.
On the other hand there is a huge market for people who want one shoe all day cause they’re on their feet. On Clouds are cozier than Jordans lol
I’m not a sneaker head but isn’t Sabastian Sawe breaking the 2 hour barrier in marathon running partially a result of adidas innovation?
Americans take every ounce of slop and normalize corporations prioritizing shareholder profits over the consumer
Try McDonald’s in countries where there’s actually regulations and they want you to buy their food over local restaurants. It’s still not better than what you eat when you travel but I haven’t touched fast food in America since I started traveling a few years back
Oh I believe what you’re saying but I was talking about how Nike sucks now lmao
Thought you were talking about McDonald’s lol
Nike hasn’t done anything interesting in a long time. They just have the presence which keeps them afloat tbh
It feels like they always bank on the hype of rappers or other shit for expensive collabs instead of just making shoes
Don’t you want an overpriced Travis Scott shoe, we put the Nike logo on backwards?
They’re doing a lot of interesting things you’re just not catching the marketing to them.
They’ve been walking down on cloud to take back their running share they lost for example
You’re so right. That shit pisses me off every time I travel. How is every American chain (McDonald’s, Starbucks, etc) better outside of America?
The shareholders got wealthier and the products got crappier
As a former shareholder, no the stock stinks lol
Redditors really just be saying buzzwords with no idea what they mean it’s so fucking funny
Right?! LMFAOO Nike stock has been in the tank for 5 years plus now.
But just mention “private equity” or “shareholders” and mfs upvote like bots
Nike certainly had a huge spike in the short term stock performance, something like doubling from \(80+ to \)160+ per share within a couple of years but they hurt their brand in the long term.
Because they started chasing short-term profitability under Donahoe with all digital sales and DTC dropshipping model, which eroded their old system. Meanwhile plenty of newer brands had better DTC models, they just can’t compete with the new kids.
Nike stocks have been in the toilet for a long time. You don’t know what your talking about.
I wouldn’t be so sure shareholders got wealthy. The price per share has dropped like $50 over the last 2 years.
It’s down like 65% in the last 5 years lmao
Nike shareholders got wealthier? Pretty sure DOGE Coin was a better investment than Nike and I am so confident I won’t even check charts to see. Nike stock has been a horrible investment
Don’t check the stock lol
Oversaturated. Plus there just hasnt been a killer athlete that nike has gotten on early in a long time.Â
Wemby is with Nike
The old adage is that big men don’t sell shoes.
It doesn’t help that Wemby uses the GT Cut which are both very expensive to begin with, and a lot of people don’t like how tall off the ground they are.
Lebron has been the face of the NBA and even his shoes struggle to sell. People aren’t wearing basketball shoes off the court anymore. Even Jordan’s are looked down on now that clubs banned them
Jordans are ugly, every middle aged dirtbag from high school love to wear them, ruined the image for me
LeBron’s probably the last great one right? 2003? Giannis more recently but I don’t think his shoes are that appealing.
Kobe in ~05. Legendary performance line. Maybe KD, since his line is pretty popular to play in. Kyrie is also a dark horse. His shoes sold well.
Oh don’t get me wrong, Zoom Kobes are probably the best performance basketball shoes Nike has ever put out. I was thinking more of players who signed with Nike from the get go. Even Kobe was with Adidas for a period.
Yeah I had originally wrote “technically” with Kobe. But also Adidas had Frobe, so one could say it wasn’t even the same guy.
I missed that the comment you replied to said “gotten on early”
Kobe and KD had good runs. People just generally don’t wear basketball shoes as their everyday shoe anymore.
Looking back why we all wore clunky high tops was bizarre.
Cutting quality for profits.
They still make good basketball sneakers. Everything else is trash these days though
Their running lines are all still popular. They hit it out of the park with their Vomeros last year. It’s the lifestyle shoes that are shit.
Nope.
Lifestyle is back too.
They revamp of the 95, moonshoe and air rift. Are all on the rise, especially for women
I guess it’s just that they had damn near market ubiquity at one point in the 90s / 00s, so anything less than that feels like a step back.
Like at one point had about half of the us run market.
Now they have like. 25%Â
Still an insane number in such a big field.
But you’re right it’s not the sameÂ
It’s like saying 2020 bron fell off, even though he’s probably still the best player alive just looking from where he’s  come from it’s a real statementÂ
Outside of their marathon racing shoes, their running shoes are so far below the other good brands that I get frustrated seeing people running in Nikes.
Give the Vomero Plus a test drive at a running store, the foam and construction is great for most anything outside race day and speed work. One of my go-to’s for a standard run!
Mcdonalds is good. Just pricier than it should be.
McDonald’s is great
They’ve become what Adidas was in the movie, Air. Everyone wants to be the face of a shoe brand now rather than 1 of many.
Does Nike even make anything of quality anymore?
My Nike weightlifting / hiking equipment I bought since 2021 has nearly all worn out or broke down while the same stuff I got over a decade ago from Nike is still fairly fresh.
They lost the crown recently, but Nike dominated the carbon plated shoe market in long distance running. The first to do it, and then the Vaporfly/Alphafly reigned supreme in that space for a long time - probably 2019-2023ish. Adidas is winning now though.
no word of a lie, good quality Nike reps last longer than the original these days.
Kobe’s are still the go-to basketball shoe, but can’t think of anything else
In running it’s all Asics, On, Hoka, Lululemon and a bunch of indie brands. Adidas popped them to the sub-2 marathon after they spent over a decade working on it.
They’re now the legacy old-timer brand in a field they pioneered
I love my Asics for my high incline hiking and treadmill usage. Those things are super durable and comfortable.
Steph was never gonna sign with nike because he wanted his own separate brand like Jordan.
If nike gave him a separate brand that would be a slap in the face to other signature guys like lebron and kd, essentially saying steph is a tier above them (as a fan i wouldn’t complain or disagree tho).
Especially because lebron asked for his own brand a few years ago and got rejected
Damn this shoe shit go deep
Nico Harrison moment
Nike is having trouble keeping up with On Cloud let alone that sweet Chinese capital venture money
wasn’t he with under armour?
Yeah but they’re basically a zombie company now
Yes but before he signed with Under Armour Nike made a pitch to him and kind of embarrassed themselves (thank Nico Harrison for that)
In fairness Nike hasn’t made the best basketball shoes in a long time. Love my Way of Wade’s.
This makes sense. Steph Curry is famous for shooting from very far away, and China is also very far away.
Last time you played in Houston there were floods
Uh, er, excuse me. First game you win, flood.
hey dreymin
Brother, you asked me about floods in practice the other day
China also gave him the nickname Sky Fucker
I can’t wait to grab me a pair of Sky Fucker 1’s
Make an “SF” colorway and just say it’s cause he plays in san francisco.
Why doesn’t Steph get the same shit for this as Micky mouse LeBron hate? I don’t care for either of them but it’s a double standard
Actually an improvement over Under Armour
I have no idea how UA has any popularity.
Garbage products that literally can’t compete with what Sport Chek’s store brand (“FWD”) puts out
I bought a bunch of stuff during the Boxing Day sale and had to return everything but a shirt (which was actually very good) because the gloves were designed for people with pinkies as long as their index finger, shoes that Walmart would be embarrassed to sell, and pants that Winners would reject
If I see anyone wearing anything Under Armour I just assume they are racist tbh lmao
I feel like that’s very location dependent. Dudes in Baltimore wear Under Armour like everybody else wears Nike Tech.
Well that’s because it’s based in Baltimore. I don’t think there are many other large metro areas where this is true.
This is such a radical assumption to make based on such little information
Redditors are gonna Reddit.
I just assume people wear UA because it was on clearance somewhere.
They used to have such good hoodies and socks.
Now UA sucks
Huh, why is that?
I don’t have any ua gear and don’t know much about them.
Probably because it was founded in Georgetown area and moved its HQ into Baltimore. I feel like thats a big reason, kinda that hometown culture i suppose is a decent way to put it.
I never thought about this. But it rings so true
Their shirts are decent. Hate their shorts. Sneakers are fugly.
Think middle America rocks it because it can be found at department stores for a decent-ish price. Families trying to raise their kids and pay their bills not really out their cross protesting the ice protests.
I do. I’m not gonna say it out loud, but it’s become synonymous with something in America at least.
In terms of actual products? They refuse to grow and kept appealing to a specific crowd: zero attention and consistency to any sport, zero appeal to folks who like the athleisure aesthetic. All garbage bootleg looking sports gear with an unappealing logo.
They’re the country music of sports apparel brands.
Absolutely. It’s so interesting because their high end products are actually good quality.
But all they wanna do is put camo on everything, make everything look like a damn outdoor boot or resemble one, and appeal to their audience with “Freedom” and “Made in the USA.”
Not hating, but that’s it. Nothing else. No diversity in their products. Just straight logo on camo colored apparel.
Every person I’ve seen wearing that “freedom” shirt has been the exact same kind of person
I have no problem supporting American made, but you are absolutely correct. Most that always wanna talk about it will then follow up with something like “I’m not buying that Nike or Adidas shit.”
I’m not saying Nike and Adidas are free from guilt of their ethical bullshit at all. But it’s a very specific crowd who chirp the same thing over and over.
It makes me wonder if there’s a “rise and fall of Under Armor” type of video on Youtube or something. When I was a kid UA was basically everywhere and had no weird political connotations. I guess eventually it becomes easier to cut quality and slap American flags on everything.
UA will be out of business within 10 years. They had all the star studded athletes from all sports at one point: Tom Brady, Jordan Spieth, Curry, and Bryce Harper. Even with that roster they couldn’t market the athletes or products. They cater to suburban dads and hunters now.
Suburban dads and hunters is a big market
Their stock and overall performance in the sneaker/athleisure market are down by like 12 percent (US Market) 6 percent for this year. This is their third year underperforming — it’s part of the reason Curry’s brand got discontinued and why he left despite signing a rumored lifetime deal with UA in 2023.
As a runner, Li Ning actually performs well, on par or if not better compared to its Western counterparts. You get bang for the buck value here and it’s not surprising that Curry signed with them considering the Chinese capital (plus Li Ning is actually a decent brand there). Chinese technology has caught up to Western for quite some time now like how BYD, a Chinese brand, is leading the sales in electric vehicles at least here in Asia as of the moment.
Pretty much any shoe brand is
Gotta come out with those Skyfuckers 1s now
they have to name it Skyfucker 1s
LMAO Nike really fucked up that he still didn’t sign with them
Just Nico things
Li-Ning makes legit basketball shoes. Guarantee you that they will break into the American market; you’ll be seeing Li-Ning Curry’s in Footlockers, Champs, etc.
Wade and Butler absolutely win as well. Even though their shoes are amazing already.
Got some Wade’s. Colors are incredible, fit is fantastic. I was skeptical but wow, they might be the best basketball shoe I’ve owned
I’d only buy li nings for outdoor play at this point the hard plastic is the best I’ve found.Â
I’m surprised they didn’t years ago. I remember in 2020 loving some Dwyane Wade ones. All City 8s I think
I completely agree with you, but let’s face it: a “Chinese” brand basketball shoe? They were probably looked at like a bootleg to most Americans.
And to be fair, Li-Ning has come a LONG way. Not saying they were bad in 2020, but they’ve improved so much in such a short time. Like the WoW 6ish(?) when they began implementing boom like Nike and Adidas had zoom and boost.
For anyone who is looking for a new basketball shoe at a relatively reasonable price or a high end pair but actually worth it, don’t sleep on the WoW line. Hell, the Jimmy Butler 3s and 4s are insane as well. I was skeptical about the hype before because there were so many people in the bball shoe subreddit they kept recommending Way of Wades. I caved in. Bought the 6s and now I will always consider the next signature line of his shoe before any other popular signature line from a Nike, Adidas, etc.
I’m actually really excited for this. My last two WoW shoes are fantastic.
I got the WoW 12s to play volleyball and they’re the best I’ve ever used. weight to sturdiness and comfort ratio are awesome.
I bought a pair of Anta Kais at FootLocker. It’s only a matter of time that WOW10s are in malls.
Their running shoes are getting a lot of hype as well. The Red Hare are supposed to be really good.
I am so happy with my Gammas.
He’s Li-Ning towards the money
You know Li-Ning came in with a large bag because of how much the Chinese fans love Curry
Yeah, curry just lining his pockets now
That’s great, more competition from China will only make other shoes better.
hali switched shoes right before the playoffs last year and… yeah. Not wishing that on Steph but I get nervous when players switch shoes
Steph is already going through that with his runners knee from last season.Â
I mean steph gets a new shoe every season, same with other players.
He even switched to a new shoe right before game 1 of the 2017 finals
Tbf Steph is on his last part of his career anyway, I dont think he really cares
Steph got injured in those same shoes lol. Puma woulda been cool otherwise.
Steph switched shoes and brands almost every game after leaving under armor lol this is some weird conspiracy shit
Fwiw this season Steph wore a new kind of shoe like every other gameÂ
i’ve bought 3 pairs of way of wades, they are quality shoes and continue to get better.
The US gonna start banning Chinese shoes like the EVs at the rate they’re getting better lmao
wonder how hard those tariffs gonna hit them
Make that money 30. That Curry lineage is set for life
The lineage would be set even without Steph
Steph’s kids would be set without Steph. But Dell didn’t make multigenerational money.
With Steph, the Curry line will be good until the sun melts the earth.
Dell is also the hornets color commentator, probably gets a good salary off that
Seth also got 50 million in his playing career
And we wonder why the old heads are salty to the youngins.
This has gotta be worth a B … right??
absolutely worth a bollocking
Worth a good boinking
While I will never begrudge any athlete getting as much money as possible, I’m pretty sure they were already set lol
I’m old school, but it’s so weird to me that one of the biggest American NBA players never got attached to Nike or Addidas.
Nike screwed the pooch with their presentation.
Adidas isn’t even American. Come on Old school
Why would American players be partial to a German brand? Converse maybe , or even Skechers lol
The Wade converses were an amazing shoe
More surprising to me that UA lost him.
I guess most of the members here are not into “performance” basketball shoes. (Don’t really hoop?)
Li Ning has the top hoop shoes for over 5 years now.
Yeah its strange, probably half the people I see at my basketball/volleyball pickup games are wearing some kind of Li Ning (including me) so I was expecting a better reaction in this thread
In the US, at least in my area, I noticed volleyball players seem to care more about performance than basketball players. There’s so much LiNing/Wades when I go to a volleyball game but it’s still kinda rare for basketball. Feels like 4⁄10 volleyball players compared to 0.5⁄10 basketball players.
Nobody here hoops lol
Best part about their brand is they have a substitute for both types of cushioning. Most of their series have something that feels like Nike Air, but the Yushuai series has that foam that feels like I’m wearing Adidas Boosts.
I just copped the Sonic 14s and Speed 12s because they were the closest thing I could find to Sabrina 2s. The Sabrina 3s didn’t live up to the standard set by the Sabrina 2 plus Nike has been cutting corners on the Kobe re-releases
Didn’t Wade switch to this brand before his knees gave out?
DWade got his meniscus removed in 2002 leading to all his future knee problems he still deals with to this day
Yeah, I think Wade was the first big NBA guy to make the switch
Shaq and Baron Davis were big names with Li Ning before Wade. KG also signed with ANTA before Wade. But Wade was the one that made these brands attractive today. Nobody was clamouring for these brands outside China until his WoW series entered the picture
He’s a lifetime partner of Li-Ning…the brand of course.
This is extra funny if you learn that Li Ning is the Unc brand for middle age middle class Chinese dudes (named after a guy who won an Olympic gold in the 80s)
So basically Curry is becoming unc and then signs for the unc brand
That dude actually won 3 gold, 2 silvers, and 1 Bronze in that Olympics alone
New balance is an unc brand but look at it now, every kids has an NB pair
can confirm, mine does.
That’s like when Champion clothing became popular. I was like isn’t that the knockoff athletic wear from Kmart?
I really thought he would’ve been with anta
jimmy is with lining klay is anta
At least Curry fans can’t use China as a reason to criticize LeBron.
dammit
get ready to wear chinese buddy
The children yearn for the mines
Let’s not act as if not the same children are making Nikes
Hold on, Those are Vietnamese kids these are Chinese.
He’s definitely Li-Ning his pockets with this deal
Li-Ning is a goated sneaker brand
Especially for basketball shoes Huge W for actual hoopers that plan to buy the shoe
Li-ning Way of the Wade is the most praised and best rated performing shoes for a guard/forward of all time
Not even kidding, all reviewers and raters of actual performance agrees it’s elite of the elite. Its looks competes with all the best looking shoes too
It’s like the BYD of shoes , it’s a great partnership, way to go Steph
This shit has to be like 500 mil over 10 years or something right?
Are Li Ning’s easy to get in the US? That’s probably the most disappointing thing about this partnership is that we won’t see his shoes around.
Yes. Amazon has a dedicated storefront for them. I got the JB3s on sale and love em
I bought Li-Ning running shoes from their Amazon storefront. I ordered Li-Ning Feidian 6 Elite back in January from them got it in two weeks from China. In that same month, I also got the 361 Flame 4.0 from the 361 Amazon store front and it came in two days. Depending on the Chinese brand, they might be in the Amazon warehouses.
I just wished that the Way of Wades weren’t so expensive. I really want the 12s.
Online yea amazon sells them
If u wanna try in store its hard. Footlocker finishline etc dont carry them
amazing, the dwade line is incredible. destroys any of the popular brands
Li ning actually better than nikes basketball wise. Check out the gamma 2s!
謝謝for the RMB
aint nuthin but a Li-Ning
This is a massive signing. Li-Ning probably has the best line of shoes in terms of sheer performance on the market (volleyball players know this too)
I’m into running and Li-Ning is better than Nike in 2026 when comparing their running shoes. I’m not familiar with basketball shoes though.
they make Way of Wades which is pretty universally recommended.
Li-Ning needs to rebrand with a cooler name if they want to be the next Nike/Adidas globally
This is why they’ve been using player named sub brands.
Wild that Curry never had a defining shoe during his playing career, especially given his impact. I can’t remember a single memorable UA design for Steph. Shaq had Hypnosis with Reebok, Iverson with the Answer., the Penny Hardaway/s. Heck even Larry Johnson had a hit with Converse.
I mean the 2s and 4s were memorable
Idk about basketball but their running shoes are elite value
The way of wade 12 is very highly rated
WOW10 is goated for hoops. Full length carbon fiber, great foam, breathable, excellent traction.Â
Ni Hao! Curry Ka Li!
Steph gonna collect that renminbi.
For everyone that doesn’t seem to know anything about basketball shoes in a basketball sub, Li-Ning makes some of the most well rounded and innovative shoes on the market, they are really elite in design and performance in general. Perfect shoes for shifty guards and explosive players. I mean, I would prefer this signing over Nike any day. Hoped for Adidas, but this was a close second
I mean who among us didn’t grow up wanting a pair of (checks notes) Li-Ning’s? /s
I’m guessing they’re throwing so much money at Steph for him to ignore any concern of brand recognition.
Jimmy’s with Li-Ning too IIRC didn’t read the post!
Literally in the post
The IIRC was from 20 seconds ago when he looked at the post
so he recalled correctly.