Ever wondered why Steph Curry signed a shoe contract with Under Armour and not Nike? Well, you’re going to be surprised to learn that the reason behind the blunder is the same person behind the controversial Luka-AD swap in 2025.
Everyone’s heard about the extremely sensational Luka Doncic and Anthony Davis swap just a few days before the trade deadline. A lot of hearts were broken, especially those of the Dallas Mavericks fans who have grown accustomed to Doncic being the face of the franchise.
Trading away the best player of the team who is still in his prime is probably the biggest and most questionable move we have seen, not just by the Mavs, but throughout the league. A 25-year-old superstar who had just brought you to the NBA Finals a year ago is suddenly out of the team? It’s equally shady as it is sketchy.
But, there’s nothing much the commoners can do, except to just move on and accept. However, if there’s one name who is thought to be behind this fiasco, that’s obviously Nico Harrison.
Who is Nico Harrison?
Nico Harrison is the current Mavericks general manager and has been with the team since 2021. He suddenly became the most hated man in the NBA after letting all hell break loose in what would be a blockbuster trade that changed the league’s landscape, for better or for worse.
Harrison is the guy responsible for pushing the deal to send Luka Doncic to Los Angeles in exchange for Anthony Davis, and the Lakers’ Rob Pelinka did what any GM probably would do.
Biggest Nike Blunder: The Botched Stephen Curry Deal
Stephen Wardell Curry was already emerging as a superstar in the early 2010s. Although it was a slow start for him in his first three years in the league, he eventually caught up and became the face of the Warriors.
Back in 2013, just a couple of years before he became an MVP and won his first NBA championship, Curry was asked to be part of the biggest sports brand in the world – Nike. Obviously, Curry was thrilled. After all, it was Nike. Everything was coming together for the future Greatest Shooter of All Time until Nike made a self-sabotage.
But, what does Harrison have to do with all of this?
At the time, Harrison was the Vice President of Nike’s North American Basketball Operations. As one of the most tenured executives of the company, having been with Nike for the past 19 years, it’s not surprising he held such a big management role for the NBA. The day came of the presentation and Nike could sign one of the best rising stars in the league. Unfortunately, it was purely catastrophic … an absolute mega blunder leading to one of Nike’s biggest losses in years.
Nico Harrison repeatedly called Stephen as “Stephon”, when in fact, the All-Star point guard’s name was already a commodity in basketball in 2013. To even add more damage, Harrison and Nike recycled the presentation they used for Kevin Durant, seemingly failing to exert effort to tailor a presentation for one of the best players of the league
But, the nail in the coffin was that Nike didn’t offer any signature shoe for Curry at the moment. As a result, Steph Curry and his camp felt disrespected and undervalued with that kind of treatment. Eventually, the future unanimous MVP took his business elsewhere, which brought him to Under Armour. In hindsight, it looked like one of those failed proposals and did not mean that much for Nike. But, if you look at it now, they really missed out big time by not signing Curry.
Twelve years later, Harrison would be once again make headlines, for all the bad reasons.
