Kevin Durant’s move to Golden State will certainly shake up the landscape of NBA basketball in the near future, but it may have a measurable effect on sales numbers on the newly released Nike KD 9 and the upcoming Under Armour Curry 3. Not since the duo of Shaq and Penny have two top signature athletes with best-selling shoes from opposing brands been on the same team. As re-lived by the ESPN 30 for 30 short film “The Magic Moment” ( a must-watch for any basketball fan), aggressive marketing campaigns by Reebok and Nike may have caused a rift between the two superstars.
Nike and Under Armour won’t go as far as throwing clear shade at one another in this day and age, but to have the competition so close might make things uniquely challenging for both Team KD and Team Steph. Both are stars and proven to be successful as pitchmen, but one will undoubtedly have to take a “back seat” of sorts – similar to what Dwyane Wade did in Miami when LeBron came aboard. LeBron quickly claimed the role as the biggest of the “Big Three”, which only helped the Nike LeBron line enter newfound success. Meanwhile Wade’s partnership with Jordan Brand proved to be an utter failure and led to the Li-Ning endorsement, which is still a small player in sneaker culture and mainstream sales.
Steph Curry edges out Kevin Durant in two key categories of global popularity and NBA success, but Steph taking that lead role in this bolstered roster is certainly not set in stone. Steve Kerr’s game-plan helped Klay Thompson and Draymond Green thrive into All-Star status (and signature shoe territory for Klay), and Durant is unselfish enough to share the load and limelight with fellow superstars. It’ll be interesting to see how the first year of the KD/Curry tandem will unfold, because while they’re aiming to work together on the court, their shoes are in direct competition.