The Future of Basketball Shoes Might Not Go Through Beaverton

After twelve years of watching the wrong brand fumble one of the greatest players alive, the right move finally happened.

I've been watching Li-Ning try to crack the American basketball market since January 2011, when I got my first chance to shoot photos courtside at an NBA game. The occasion was the Staples Center launch of the Li-Ning Defend, the first US retail launch of Baron Davis's signature line with the brand. BD was playing for the Clippers at the time, the brand handed out shoes to fans as they walked in, and the whole thing had this scrappy, we-have-something-to-prove energy that you either believed in or you didn't.

This week, Li-Ning announced a long-term partnership with Stephen Curry and Curry Brand, and I keep coming back to that night at Staples Center. Fifteen years of building, signing, learning, and swinging, and now they’re partnered with four championships, two MVPs, and arguably the most transformational player the game has seen since Michael Jordan.

Stephen Curry in his Li-Ning x Curry Brand varsity jacket to announce his new partnership.

To me that signals something a lot of people are going to miss in the coverage of this deal.

The story isn’t that Curry left Under Armour. I wrote about that extensively in The Biggest Failure in a Century of Sneakers, and if you want the full picture of how badly UA mishandled one of the most gifted players in the history of basketball, that piece is worth your time. The short version is that Under Armour had everything they needed and traded it for a pair of shoes that the internet called “nurse shoes” during the NBA Finals. They never understood what they had.

The story is what Curry chose instead, and why Li-Ning deserves more credit than they’re going to get.

According to ESPN’s Shams Charania, the deal is 10 years and $400 million, covering basketball products, athleisure lifestyle wear, a full golf line, and something that hasn’t gotten nearly enough attention: the ability to sign both male and female athletes under Curry Brand. Li-Ning isn’t just giving Curry a shoe deal. They’re giving him the infrastructure to build a roster. That’s a different level of commitment entirely.

What makes the decision even more telling is what Curry turned down to get here. Sources told ESPN he had at least one offer on the table worth more money. He chose Li-Ning anyway.

That’s not a guy chasing a check. That’s a guy who did his homework.

In his letter published this week, Curry was direct about what drew him to the brand. He wrote about the quality and performance of Li-Ning’s shoes, about the company being “truly about sport,” and about the shared foundation between his vision for Curry Brand and Li-Ning founder Mr. Li Ning’s own legacy as an Olympic gold medalist and entrepreneur. He even mentioned playing in Dwyane Wade’s and Jimmy Butler’s Li-Ning sneakers earlier this season and seeing firsthand what the brand could deliver.

Li-Ning has been serious about basketball for a long time. The Dwyane Wade line produced some of the most underrated performance shoes of the past decade. Jimmy Butler, Fred VanVleet, CJ McCollum, and D’Angelo Russell have all repped the brand on court. The roster of players willing to bet on Li-Ning has been growing quietly for years, and now they’ve signed Curry with plans to open Curry Brand stores in both China and the US.

Stephen Curry in his Li-Ning x Curry Brand varsity jacket to announce his new partnership.

That last part is worth a second thought. This isn’t a Chinese brand signing an American player to sell shoes in China. This is a global brand making a genuine run at the American market with one of the most recognizable athletes in the world as the centerpiece. And Curry, with probably a couple of prime seasons left, is treating this like the beginning of something, not a graceful exit.

Which brings me to the question I keep turning over.

Does the future of basketball shoes go through China now?

Nike still owns the conversation. Jordan Brand still prints money. But the brands making the most aggressive moves, the ones willing to commit to elite athletes with actual product infrastructure behind them, are increasingly coming from China. Anta. Li-Ning. Both deeply serious. Both well-resourced. Both playing a long game that American brands keep underestimating.

The US sneaker industry has spent years treating Chinese brands as a punchline or an asterisk. The Baron Davis era was easy to dismiss. The Wade line was easier to ignore. But these weren’t stumbles. They were steps.

And now they have Stephen Curry.

Just for fun, check out his Wikipedia list of career accomplishments.

I’m not ready to say Nike’s basketball dominance is ending. But I am ready to say that anyone who writes off Curry Brand’s chances with Li-Ning the way they wrote off every previous Chinese brand partnership hasn’t been paying attention. Li-Ning has earned the right to be taken seriously. They’ve been building toward this moment since before most people knew how to spell their name.

I watched them hand out free shoes to Clippers fans in 2011 and thought, these people know what they’re doing. Fifteen years later, they proved me right.

Keep building.

-Nick

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I’m Nick Engvall. I’ve worked in the sneaker industry for over two decades. I built the original Eastbay Blog during my time at Sole Collector, led the first dedicated sneaker team for Complex, led the first UGC and seeding programs for Finish Line, employee #9 at StockX, Sr. Director at Stadium Goods. Now building it independently.

I host the Sneaker History podcast (600K+ downloads) and my first book Small Luxuries: Sneakers is out October 2026 from Motorbooks. Find more sneaker nostalgia and community at Sole Collector.

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