NBA superstar Steph Curry signs Li-Ning deal in a major win for Chinese shoe giant
By John Liu, Fred He, CNN
Hong Kong/Hangzhou (CNN) — Stephen Curry announced a partnership for his signature brand with Li-Ning on Monday, ending his sneaker free agency in a major win for the Chinese sportswear giant.
The four-time NBA champion had partnered with Under Armour for 13 years before splitting in November last year.
“This is bigger than a shoe deal, bigger than a signature series. This is a partnership of a lifetime,” the 38-year-old Golden State Warriors star, who will be entering his 18th NBA season with the team, said in a video on his Instagram.
The deal is the latest example of China’s burgeoning sportswear brands snagging top international figures to be brand ambassadors as they try to make inroads into the NBA and the wider American market, taking on global leaders like Nike and Adidas.
ESPN, citing industry sources, reported that the deal with Li-Ning will span ten years. The agreement covers basketball products, athleisure lifestyle wear, the ability for Curry to sign male and female athletes under his brand, and a full golf line, it added.
In a statement on Curry’s brand collective site Thirty Ink, he said there are plans to launch Curry Brand stores in both the United States and China.
Started in 1990 by Chinese gymnast and Olympic gold medalist Li Ning, the namesake brand has grown into one of the most recognizable homegrown sports companies. But over 98% of the company’s $4.3 billion revenue last year came from the domestic market.
The deal with Curry, who is a household name in China, is expected to further boost Li-Ning’s popularity in the country and help expand the brand’s market share in the US. Curry has traveled to China seven times with the most recent tour to Chongqing last August, and each visit has drawn massive, frenzied crowds.
Prior to Curry, Li-Ning has already cultivated its own elite NBA roster, featuring his Golden State teammate Jimmy Butler and Hall of Famer Dwyane Wade. Curry said in the statement that he was impressed with the company’s shoes made for Butler and Wade, which led him to conclude that the Chinese brand could be the right partner.
Meanwhile, China’s largest sportswear conglomerate Anta, which has sought to bolster its international standing by acquiring brands from Arc’teryx and Salomon to Puma, signed a lifetime partnership with Klay Thompson earlier this year.
Thompson spent 13 seasons alongside Curry for the Warriors, hoisting the Larry O’Brien Trophy four times together before departing for Dallas.
Now, both of the “Splash Brothers” are signed with Chinese footwear brands, tapping into a market where they already enjoy a massive fanbase.
Anta has opened its first North American flagship store in Beverly Hills, marking the latest step in its push to expand its overseas market.
The-CNN-Wire
™ & © 2026 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved.
