After wrapping up a 12-year collaborative tenure with American athletic apparel giant Under Armour, NBA legend Stephen Curry has announced a groundbreaking new endorsement partnership with Chinese sportswear leader Li-Ning, marking the first collaboration between the 38-year-old Golden State Warriors star and an Asian brand.
Curry, who exited his contract with Under Armour in 2025, entered the open market for a new retail partner to back his signature line of basketball footwear and athletic apparel. The new deal with Li-Ning will see both parties co-develop innovative new product lines, plus roll out a dedicated network of Curry Brand retail locations across both the United States and China. Full financial terms of the agreement have not been made public as of the announcement.
For Li-Ning, the signing of one of the most recognizable athletes in global basketball represents a landmark milestone in the brand’s years-long push to build a major presence in international markets, aligned with the expansion strategies of other leading Chinese sportswear manufacturers such as Anta. As it stands, Li-Ning already operates more than 7,000 retail locations across Asia, and Curry noted in a statement posted to his business platform Thirty Ink that the partnership will accelerate Li-Ning’s consumer penetration in the highly competitive U.S. market.
Curry’s career endorsement trajectory traces back to early partnerships with Nike early in his NBA tenure, before he moved to Under Armour in 2013. He now joins a growing cohort of top NBA talent that have signed on with Chinese sportswear brands: Dwyane Wade and Jimmy Butler already hold endorsement deals with Li-Ning, while Klay Thompson and Kyrie Irving are partnered with Anta.
Anta, another major Chinese player that began as an original equipment manufacturer for international brands, has led Chinese sportswear’s global expansion through high-profile acquisitions, including the rights to Fila and a recent majority stake purchase in Puma, with a public commitment to growing the German brand’s footprint across mainland China.
In recent years, Western athletic brands have prioritized breaking into China’s massive consumer market, but they have faced steep headwinds: local manufacturers have carved out large market shares by offering quality products at more accessible price points, and uneven domestic spending has slowed overall consumer demand in the region in recent quarters.
For Curry’s own brand, the partnership unlocks far more room for global expansion beyond basketball, extending into golf and other lifestyle segments. “We have plans to launch Curry Brand stores together in China and the U.S., as we look to build on the success that Li-Ning has already established, with even more growth,” Curry said in his statement.
Widely considered one of the greatest shooters in NBA history, a four-time NBA champion, and a globally recognizable cultural figure, Curry’s addition to Li-Ning’s roster is expected to dramatically boost the brand’s credibility and visibility in Western markets, while giving Curry’s namesake brand access to China’s massive, underpenetrated consumer base.
Steph Curry signs with Chinese brand Li-Ning after Under Armour split
