Stephen Curry signs long-term Curry Brand deal with Li-Ning

Stephen Curry has taken his signature brand from American sneaker free agency to a Chinese sportswear giant with global ambitions. The Golden State Warriors star announced a new long-term Curry Brand deal with Li-Ning, closing the chapter that began when he and Under Armour ended their partnership in November 2025 after more than a decade together.

The value of the agreement was not disclosed, but the strategy was clear. Curry said the partnership would include plans to launch Curry Brand stores in China and the United States, putting his name on both sides of the Pacific at a moment when sports marketing is increasingly shaped by trade tension, cultural competition and the race for global legitimacy.

Li-Ning, founded by Olympic gold medal-winning gymnast Li Ning, has spent years building scale far beyond China. Reuters reported the company has more than 7,600 points of sale across Asia, a retail footprint that gives the Curry Brand an instant platform in one of the world’s most competitive consumer regions. The partnership will begin with basketball and expand into golf and lifestyle, while the brand remains athlete-owned under the Li-Ning umbrella.

For Li-Ning, the deal is part commercial, part geopolitical branding. Chinese sports companies have been working to attach themselves to recognizable global athletes in hopes of turning domestic success into international prestige. Li-Ning has already sponsored NBA stars Dwyane Wade and Jimmy Butler, a roster that helped the company build name recognition with American basketball fans even as it deepened its reach at home.

The company’s ambitions also run through state sport. Li-Ning became the official sportswear partner of the Chinese Olympic Committee and the Chinese sports delegation for 2025 to 2028, replacing Anta and tightening its ties to China’s national sports identity. That positioning matters in a market where elite athletic partnerships carry symbolic weight, not just sales potential.

Curry said he was drawn to Li-Ning because of its innovation, design and athlete-centered focus, and the move gives him a rare kind of control: a brand that can speak to U.S. consumers, Chinese consumers and the broader global basketball market at once. In an era when athlete labels are expected to perform as lifestyle companies, the Curry-Li-Ning deal shows how much of modern sports branding is now a test of cross-border credibility.