You’ve heard the news. Kevin Durant has decided to join the Warriors. You’ve heard the opinions on KD’s move to the team who last year set the mark for best regular-season record in the NBA too, mostly negative (for the record, we don’t love it either. You’re one game away from the Finals, and you leave to join the team that you lost to? Nahhh). You’ve probably also heard about the potential sneaker ramifications, and that’s what we’re talking about today.
You see, Steph Curry is the face of Under Armor. His play, personality, and demeanor helped UA gain a ton of ground in the basketball market, a market that’s pretty much cornered by Nike. Sure, nobody’s going to take away their majority share of the market any time soon…but you’d be lying if you said Under Armor didn’t turn up the heat and make a strong push last year, especially in the signature shoe department. Kids determine what the cool basketball shoes are, and last year the kids wanted Currys.
KD is a Nike man. Now that Kobe has retired, he and LeBron James are the biggest faces of Nike Basketball, and his line took a hit in sales last year. We’re banking that won’t be happening again this year. Look at the storylines! One of the best players in the world joins an elite team in search of a title. Everyone’s mad at him for jumping ship. He’s got a whole new set of challenges to face. The ads pretty much write themselves.
As far as the rest goes, we’ll have to see how it plays out on the court this year. Curry was the only one with shoes anyone cared about on the Warriors last year (sure, Klay Thompson has a signature shoe too, but who honestly gives a shit?), but now that KD’s there, two of the three biggest signature shoe endorsers will be sharing a market. Will Curry continue his dominance? Will KD take away some of Curry’s luster? Whatever happens, the marketing and design times at Nike and Under Armor will be working overtime trying to make their superstar look better. Nobody knows exactly what’ll happen yet…but we should be in for a fairly wild ride with lots of great marketing, and hopefully some great sneakers as well.
How do you think the KD vs Curry sneaker battle will play out? Will Curry continue his sneaker dominance, or will KD up his market share? Let us know in the comments or on Twitter, check our Facebook page for daily updates, and, as always, be sure to follow us on Instagram for all the fire sneaker pictures you can handle.
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