Stephen Curry made headlines after the 2025-26 NBA season when he chose to sign with Li-Ning as a sneaker free agent over the likes of other global companies like Nike, Adidas, PUMA, and other brands. The Warriors star ended his partnership with Under Armour after 12 years and ultimately decided to take his Curry Brand venture to the Chinese sports apparel company.

“It was a great run. Under Armour had a great experience over the 12, 13 years I was there. I developed Curry Brand underneath Under Armour,” Curry told CNBC Television recently. “They were able to take my brand out and search for a new partnership that, for me, is looking at the longevity and legacy of what I think is possible not just here in the US, but globally across basketball, golf, lifestyle, and training.”

So, why did Curry choose Li-Ning over bigger-name companies?

Aside from continuing to produce new basketball shoes and apparel, Curry partnering with Li-Ning allows him to also expand his Curry Brand to athleisure lifestyle wear, a full golf line, and reach an untapped audience overseas to make his business venture into something like Michael Jordan did with Jordan Brand at Nike.

Although he wore multiple shoes and different brands during his sneaker free agency, Curry always kept going back to Li-Ning's shoes, specifically those connected to Jimmy Butler and Dwyane Wade. In terms of Li-Ning as a whole, the Warriors' star saw the vision for a long-term, successful future past retirement.

“Li-Ning has been an unbelievable partner. It's a long-term scope of what we're trying to do,” Steph explained. “It's crazy just from a product perspective, I got to try out a bunch of different shoes, and I lived up to the free agent tag for sure. I tried literally everything, and there was a reason that Li-Ning stood tall at the end because the product reigned supreme, and so Dwyane Wade, Jimmy Butler, two guys that have been with the brand for a very long time, they kind of set the stage.

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“I'm excited. We're five months in, I just got back from a tour the last week, so I'm excited about the opportunity.”

As he prepares for the 2026-27 NBA season with the Warriors, Curry is entering Year 18 of his Hall-of-Fame career. After playing in just 43 games last year due to ongoing knee issues, Curry is determined to lead the Warriors back to the playoffs in hopes of making one final championship push before his eventual retirement.

Although nobody knows when the day will come when Steph calls it quits, he has made sure to let everyone know that he is staying with Golden State for the remainder of his career.

“I’ve always stated that I want to be a lifer with Golden State and what we’ve built there. The fact that I get to run it back this year with Draymond [Green] and Coach Kerr, all this contract stuff, this NBA thing from year to year is so crazy, things change really fast. But I do know my interest and mission to stay in Golden State and be competitive is there, and the contract stuff will take care of itself.”

Curry is currently eligible to receive a two-year, $136.7 million contract extension from the Warriors and can sign a new extension with the team at any point during the 2026-27 season.