If Stephen Curry's dominance is frustrating for one person, LeBron James wouldn't be a bad guess. Despite losing 4-2 in the Finals and more recently losing 132-98 at home to the Golden State Warriors, James has his own type of dominance over Curry – sneakers sales.
Last month in a locker room interview Only a Game reporter Martin Kessler attempted to ask James about Under Armour's commercial saying the three-point shot has replaced the dunk, to which James replied, "Who is that? I don't know who Under Armour is. I only know Nike. That's it. Life time."
James' arrogance came from the obvious dominance Nike has in the footwear industry. According to ESPN sports business reporter Darren Rovell, “LeBron’s selling 10 times more shoes than Curry right now.” He also said, “So while everyone’s lauding Under Armour, Under Armour’s gotta make the business happen.”
In 2015, Curry set the record for most three-point shots in an NBA season with 286, he won the MVP award, and he lead his team to a Finals Championship – all while wearing his first signature sneaker, the Under Armour Curry One. According to Only a Game, Under Armour's sales increased 754 percent during that season. Despite the huge increase in sales, Under Armour still has a lot of catching up to do.
It is worth noting that Nike was founded in 1964 and has had years of dominance in the industry compared to Under Armour, which was founded in 1996 and specialized in workout apparel, not footwear. LeBron James is on his thirteenth signature sneaker with Nike, where Curry's first signature sneaker with Under Armour released less than a year ago on February 13, 2015.
According to Forbes, James was number one in NBA athlete sneaker sales, generating $340 million for Nike. Curry did not place on the list simply because he didn't have his own signature sneaker in 2014. While a report for sneaker sales in 2015 has yet to be generated, it'll be interesting to see where Curry is placed for his first time and how much higher James is above the pack.
