Look at Curry Brand, man, so inspirational

[GSW-SAS videos/interviews/transcripts]

This post is a little late, obviously, even if it’s just to give my two cents on one Wardell Stephen Curry and Under Armour parting ways. Per usual, the videos, interviews and transcripts from the second game in San Antonio are below.

I highlighted Will Richard from the New Orleans game here and hope to do something about Draymond Green’s postgame locker room banter with reporters, maybe and hopefully before the game in Orlando happens.

I’ve been quite busy with the relaunch of the Love Your Dubs Summit. Hope you all check it out, even if it’s just the free access. There will be a 48-hour marathon on Thanksgiving and Black Friday.

But perhaps you will find the following two tidbits of information as news you haven’t heard on the shoe front, just quite yet:

1. Steph has already employed at least two former Under Armour executives, Val Middleton and Kris Stone, although Middleton is no longer with SC30, Inc., which recently rebranded to Thirty Ink. This suggests to me that, despite Curry literally saying on the podium (see below) in San Antonio that “the sneaker industry is hard,” he can tap people-based resources, if needed.

2. Cade Cunningham just signed an extension with Nike and will become their seventh active NBA star with a signature shoe. I don’t know, I view Steph as a “one of one,” don’t you? I don’t think it enhances himself to become, say, the eighth Nike NBA player to have his own shoe. In fact, I feel like being the eighth Nike guy with his own shoe would dilute his own mythos.

I did go on the livestream on Friday versus the Spurs and report that I weirdly had a dream Wednesday night about Steph in a Nike store promoting a bundle of three sneakers, from casual to lifestyle to performance, each for less than $100 per pair. But now that I’ve had some time to think about it, I would rather keep Curry Brand independent.

They certainly don’t need to hand the creative side to Nike. If you count producing movies as a right brain activity, I think Thirty Ink is well-positioned to dream up its own sneaker designs or ad campaigns. CNBC reported this past June that Unanimous Media had secured a high eight-figure deal with NBC-Universal and that deal had even gotten renewed.

I really hope Curry avoids partnering with a Chinese brand. No offense and I’m certainly not into politics, tariffs, or staunchly American, and I’m even of Chinese descent, but I do think the Chinese brands are already doing quite well and are on the cutting edge of shoe technology and design, as well as distribution to Asian markets.

I don’t think the Chinese brands necessarily need Steph. And if Steph wants to do a tour of China and sell sneakers along the way, there are plenty of partners not essentially tied to shoe manufacturers who would gladly pay premium to link up with him.

For the Love Your Dubs Summit, I even interviewed a Chinese-based company spokesman who has zero to do with sneakers on how they organized Draymond’s recent mini-tour in China. Government officials there will move mountains to befriend NBA stars.

Like, I’ve long touted Anta, which obviously Klay Thompson has been an endorser of, as being a much, much bigger and stronger company than even Under Armour if you consider market capitalization. You only need look at UA’s recent stock closing price to see a major reason why Curry Brand parted ways.

So I think the only thing Curry would need from a Chinese company is brick-and-mortar try-on stores and distribution into Asia and I tend to think they can find a partner in that, whereby creative design and marketing can still remain in-house.

I’m not a sneakerhead, though, and have done zero research or actual journalism on any of this. This post is entirely a thought piece. I’m just saying, Curry Brand remaining independent and making the right partnerships, owning the creative process, that can be an inspiration to all the solo entrepreneur creatives out there as well.

Look at what Nike did with Jordan Brand over the decades. Or was it vice-versa? Back then, I do think they needed each other. But we are in the era of the creatives and, to me, Curry has demonstrated that he can forge his own industries, whether that’s in golf or spirits like Gentleman’s Cut or restaurants — CNBC reported $146 million in revenue by Thirty Ink last year!

The mythology of Michael Jordan continued on even after he stopped playing. This happened through Jordan Brand.

That’s the potential of Curry Brand and it’s right up Steph’s alley.

To be a branch of an existing shoe brand, be it Nike, be it a Chinese brand like Anta, be it Reebok, New Balance, Adidas, whatever, who needs that?

“Look at Curry, man, so inspirational,” is the on-court… well… inspiration! Shout out Flight Reacts!

“Look at Curry Brand, man, so inspirational” — that could be transcendental. The thing that doesn’t necessarily require Steph to be on the court, doing basketball stuff.

It’s gonna take a lot of creativity, but that’s what joy enables and Steph’s got plenty of that.

Steve Kerr, Gary Payton II, and Brandin Podziemski in addition to Curry, below. The first game stuff from San Antonio, I’ve got bundled coming up with a commentary on Al Horford…

00:00 STEPH CURRY, POSTGAME GSW-SAS-2OF2: I know Coach mentioned it before the game, but being from the Bay and understanding an icon that was lost and John Beam, like, sending all thoughts, prayers to his family. The whole Laney College community, all of Oakland, senseless violence is tough, puts in perspective what we get to do every day. But I know he was a legend and touched a lot of lives. Just want to acknowledge that.

00:30 Did you ever get to meet John Beam?

00:31 I did not.

00:34 You notice Wemby firing the crowd up before your free throws?

00:38 Absolutely.

00:40 Do you like when something like that--?

00:43 Yeah, it just keeps you engaged. I’m aware of everything. That’s pretty fun. I ain’t really, I don’t think I told, I like the free throws at the end of the game. Like, you gotta find something to take the nerves out. And for me, like, that’s just embracing the moment and smiling, having a good time. And when he started that, especially with their fan, whatever the fanatics they got up there in the stands, right behind the basket, I wanted to acknowledge it and not let it surprise me. So I played into it. Thankfully, I made ‘em.

01:14 Did it feel like a playoff game tonight?

01:17 Yes and no. Having played ‘em back to back games and subtle adjustments, that is always fun to try to figure out on the fly. And they were pretty fast and physical in the first half and shots were a little hard to come by, but then we settled into it. And to your point about just the intensity, the in- season tournament thing, it’s working in a sense of giving you an atmosphere and something that feels a little different than a just a normal regular season game. Guys really want to get to Vegas.

01:51 How aware were you of tying Michael Jordan for 40 point games at your age?

01:56 Very aware. I did, I threw up the, yeah, I did it backwards, though. It’s the second time I’ve done that, but yeah, I was aware of it, for sure. Something just, I didn’t know about it, one away until last game, and then obviously was asked about it. And then when I got over that number, like, that’s pretty cool just from an individual accomplishment perspective. Just to be able to be in that type of company and longevity is something I pride myself on, so that was pretty cool.

02:27 Did the fact you wore Nikes pregame, what did that signify?

02:32 I’m a free agent. I’m out here, new beginnings. I was blessed to have an unbelievable experience, to take a chance on something that meant a lot to me over the last 13 years and extremely proud of what I, myself, my team, everybody who was able to touch that business for that long, we all should be proud of what we were able to accomplish and taking a basketball brand or a brand and category that wasn’t really a thing before to where we did. But I’m excited about the future.

03:06 Why did that partnership end now?

03:08 Huh?

03:09 Why did that partnership with Under Armour end now?

03:14 Just in the best interest of both parties. The sneaker industry is difficult and, like I said, things change over time and to the point of you give your best effort to create something sustainable and a little disappointing, knowing how it turned out, based on where Curry Brand has been the last five years, the announcement we had two years ago, but I think it’s the right thing for everybody. And for me to be able to take the opportunity with Curry Brand and what we’ve done in the community, what we’ve done from standing for something, changing the game for good is our tagline, and hopefully having something to show for it down the road, I’m excited about that step.

04:04 Why did you choose to wear the Mambacitas pregame?

04:12 I think it’s, one, I know it’s just weird seeing anything else other than my own shoes, but just the idea of what he meant. I’ve talked about Kobe a lot and that specific pair, I think it speaks for itself what it means. And other than that, it just something that I wanted to take advantage of that moment and pay tribute and I think it gave me some good energy tonight.

04:43 Will you be sticking with those shoes or testing out different companies pregame? Like, how will that work?

04:49 The good thing about this situation is I love my own shoes and I’m out there hooping. That’s why I put those back on. And why I’ve designed the kicks I have for as long as I have. But yeah, I’m gonna have some fun with this and, like you said, or like the question is in terms of being open to whatever opportunity is the right fit, but I’m gonna try everything out.

05:13 Back to the game, how much do you guys thrive when Draymond’s in that kind of intention, the intensity that he had with Wemby tonight?

05:22 He takes those challenges on and the idea of, he’s not afraid of any moment or anybody on the other side. And we know like Wemby’s gonna get his numbers. He’s gonna have his moments. He’s an unbelievable player, but over the course of the game, you’re gonna make him work and you’re gonna feel him. And I told him, like, you remind people who you are. It’s not about anything other than, making your presence felt. And he did exactly that and, thankfully, we were able to make enough plays down the stretch where it mattered. So that’s why Draymond is who he is. He plays way above his size and he has his whole career and you can ride with that type of energy any night.

06:06 How much does it fire up the team to see Steve Kerr get a tech there on the third quarter. Kind of fire you guys up?

06:12 Yeah, we love it. He’s broken clipboards along the way, he’s gotten techs. He gets fiery. This morning he gave, he was in his bag in terms of his speech he gave in our pregame meeting this morning. And you could tell, like, he still has that fastball if he needs it. And it’s important for us to have that energy and over the course of 82, like, we’re all in this fight together. I think he talked about that this morning. He showed it out there and whether you win or lose, like, you just want to have a unit and a team that’s together, coaches included.

06:52 What was unique about his pregame or was it shootaround. When--?

06:58 I’ve never heard him, I shouldn’t say never. He rarely talks about his Chicago days and he gave some references to how they approached their team and their identity by comparisons to like how a band comes together and everybody playing their role. You got your lead singers, you got your bass, your acoustic, your electric, whatever. You got your drummers. You got the stage hands. You got the guy that’s plugging in the speakers. He said he was just above plugging in the speakers guy, but it speaks to, it all matters. There’s value in all of that. When a band’s going on a tour and I think Phil Jackson instilled that in him and he used that as a reference for how we need to play and how we need to approach our identity. It’s going to take a long time to get through this year in terms of doing that, but it’s great to have a reference.

07:56 If this is a band--

07:58 Ooh, you’re going to click deeper now, where are we going?

08:01 What role of person are you in the band? In other words--

08:08 What you think? What you are you--?

08:14 If we’re talking about the lead singer of a band, what band are we putting you at the front of?

08:20 That’s hilarious. I don’t, depends on the night.

08:24 Alright, tonight.

08:27 I don’t have a good reference for you. I’m, I was Hayley Williams in Paramore tonight.

—

08:35 Gary, how would you describe the competitiveness, intensity of tonight’s game, but also the game the other night?

08:44 GARY PAYTON II: I liked it. We had two good games. They let us play, let us be physical. It was just a dog fight. First team to come out with 50- 50 balls and make the extra little plays, I think, would’ve came out on top. And that team did both nights.

09:01 Did feel like a playoff game?

09:03 Absolutely. With these Cup games, they do change the importance of the game a little bit. We’re playing for something, so everybody wants to come and try to get to Vegas and make extra couple dollars.

09:17 What was it like watching Steph tonight?

09:21 I think he’s fully healthy now. I don’t think he’s sick anymore. It’s just good to see him out there, get his normal runs, normal jogs, normal bounces, normal rhythm. Once he gets going, we just try to find him, try to get him open, make it easy for us.

09:38 How would you describe the battle between Draymond and Wemby for the last couple games?

09:42 It’s one to watch. It’s good. They let him, down there they let him bang down there, so it was, it’s fun to watch and of course you want to get on the floor. You gotta be cognizant of what’s going on, but still have his back when he needs it. He can handle it, but Wemby’s Wemby, so just make it tough for him. But Dray’s a all class, world class, he knows what to do and he knows how to handle it. We let him do what he does.

10:10 The intention and intensity that he had tonight, do you guys thrive off of that as a team?

10:15 Absolutely. He brings it every night. He sets the tone. We follow. We also have his back, for whatever reason. He’s our leader on defense. He’s vocal, he knows what to do. He sniffs out on everything that other opponents do. We let Dray be Dray.

10:35 You like seeing Steve get riled up like that, too?

10:37 Yeah, exactly. It was that tech right there, probably got us going more than anything. Steve fights for us. We’ll go to the wall for Steve. We’d love to see that fire with him.

10:49 What did you see on that last shot by Fox? What were you seeing?

10:53 Draymond sniffed it out early. We pre switched before me and Moses. It was up to me and Moses down to handle the guard to guard action, and we read it and just trying to make it tougher. De’Aaron, he hit a couple crazy ones in the middle of that fourth. Just try to make it tough and we got the bounce that we wanted.

11:17 When you have him on the switch on that last play, what is the strategy?

11:21 Get a stop.

11:24 Is there something that you do specifically against him to try to prevent him from getting down?

11:28 No. Yeah, yeah, he wants to try to get to the rim, so we cut that off and he takes that middy. Contest, don’t foul. We got the bounce that we needed. Ha! You guys are great. Enjoy your night in San Antonio, baby.

00:00 Steph’s pretty good.

00:02 STEVE KERR, POSTGAME GSW-SAS-2: He’s not bad. He’s not bad. Wemby’s not bad either. What a battle between a guy who’s been doing this for a long time and continues to amaze at 37 and a young guy over there and he just destroys everything defensively. It’s just so hard to get an easy basket. And every time you think you’re free, he just comes out of nowhere and blocks a shot or gets in the way. And that was an incredible basketball game, high level competition. I thought the Spurs defense was fantastic. They came out, obviously, after the other night when we were flowing and really moving the ball, they bottled us up pretty well, but really proud of our guys for sticking with it.

00:51 Were you having Paris flashbacks at the end there?

00:55 Actually I wasn’t. but yeah, I still think about that photo of Steph with Wemby running at him in Paris. I gotta get that photo copied and put it in my house somewhere. But yeah, it’s pretty remarkable watching Wemby play, just to see the versatility, the poise, everything he does to impact the game. He’s a remarkable player.

01:24 You played Steph 36 minutes tonight, I think the entire third. You mentioned you guys were getting bottled up. How much did it just feel like he was the offernse tonight?

01:33 Yeah, we ended up with 18 assists and we were trying to move the ball. I thought the intentions were great, but they were, again, super physical and Wemby was everywhere. We just couldn’t really get our offense going and felt like we were gonna have to ride him a few extra minutes. And we didn’t plan on playing him the whole third. I tried to take him out with about two minutes left, but there was no stoppage in play and they played the last eight, but you can see the difference in his rhythm, his conditioning now, after being out for a week. And I think in some ways that helped his legs, but he needed a couple games to get the conditioning and the rhythm back, but yeah, that was an incredible performance.

02:24 How important is it to you see the response from this team, these back to back games after the loss in OKC, against another great team like the Spurs?

02:31 Yeah, it’s just a fantastic two victories over a hell of a team on their home floor, coming off that stretch where we were really struggling. Really proud of the team and excited about where we are and where this is going as we look forward, but we’re only halfway through the trip, so we got some tough games left.

02:57 What did you make of Draymond’s defense tonight on Wembanyama?

02:59 He did everything he possibly could. Draymond is always gonna battle and he’s one of the great competitors I’ve ever been around and, obviously, he was getting pretty emotional out there. It was a battle and he got the fifth thul and we took him out and then Al came in, did a really good job. Draymond came to me at the timeout at three minutes, and he said, Hey, if that group’s rolling, you wanna stay with them, stay with them. And I felt that way and I think I played Al a couple more possessions, and then when they scored, I have to get Draymond back in the game and the way he closed it, beautiful assist to Steph on the out of bounds play and then, defensively, just doing what he does, that was really impressive.

03:48 And Steve, when Draymond is, like, out of his mind and very emotional, is it better to talk to him or just leave him alone?

03:58 No, he can’t hear me when he’s like that, but I was out of my mind, too. I got a technical, too, and yeah, we were both pretty emotional during that stretch. And the team really did a great job of kinda staying calm and poised and Steph just completely took over the whole second half. He was great in the first half, too, but you could tell he was just feeling it and amazing to watch him play

04:27 You forced 20 plus turnovers. How significant was this a defensive effort as a collective?

04:31 Yeah, it feels different when Gary is playing like he has the last couple games and we’re giving him those minutes to pressure the ball, but also to contribute to the overall defense. He’s a brilliant defender and he obviously hit a couple of huge threes, but I just, I think overall the defense has really stepped up the last couple games, but the offense has helped the defense by taking better care of the ball and having better possessions. Even though we struggled to make shots tonight, I liked our possessions, but they were so physical and we couldn’t get past them. It felt like we had seven or eight possessions that went down to the last second of the shot clock and we just couldn’t do much with them other than, and Steph and Jimmy, so we kept going to those two, obviously. But even then, it was really tough.

05:27 When Steph steps to the line with six seconds left, has to hit both, are you, is any part of you, like, nervous or wondering if he might make them?

05:36 I’m nervous, but I’m not wondering if he’s gonna make them or not. It’s, obviously, game on the line and for him to step up there and knock them down, I think everybody expects it, but we shouldn’t take that for granted. That’s pressure time and he just calmly stepped up and knocked them down and we all expected that, but that’s just that’s who he is.

06:03 Between the intensity and the adjustments, did these two games feel like a mini playoff series?

06:07 Yeah. Yeah, for sure. Obviously, they’re a rising young team, talented, well-coached and really defensive minded. I thought they came out with a really physical mindset tonight to take us out of our patterns and to try to put pressure on us and they did it. They did a really good job of that, so it did feel like a playoff game, especially tonight. The other night, it was a little different. It was a little looser, a little freer, and tonight felt more like the physicality of the playoffs

06:39 After Steph’s go ahead free throws, what were you expecting them to do on the Fox possession?

06:46 I thought they might go to Wembanyama, but Draymond with six seconds left, and Draymond’s physicality and his ability to get underneath Wemby, I understood why they went to Fox. He was having a great game and there’s enough time where he can attack and dribble. Moses and Gary executed the switch really well and we forced a tough shot.

07:13 Podz, 10 points and three assists, three rebounds. Is this kind of the, when you think of the ideal Podz game, closing out the game fourth quarter, this is what you envision?

07:22 Yeah, these last two games, he’s been brilliant and he’s a little bit like Draymond in that what he does, doesn’t always end up reflected in the box score. I thought his three was maybe the shot of the game, from the top of the key. It just kept us right there. I think it cut it to one, if I’m not mistaken. Obviously, Steph hit everything, but BP’s three, Gary’s two threes, guys stepping up to keep us in the game, but Brandin does so much out there. I thought he had a another great game.

07:57 Steve, how you doing? We are from Argentina. We came here with, because the Sports Center is celebrating 25 years in Spanish in Latin America. So you play with him. He should be good for you as a coach. Now, would you like to have a Manu Ginobili as a player on the Warriors? And if, Manu plays, would--?

08:17 Would I like to have Manu Ginobili on my team? Oh my gosh, would I ever. Yeah, Manu, I played with him my last year and it was his rookie year and it was amazing watching him play, but also just who he was as a teammate. He meant so much to the locker room, just the chemistry, the camaraderie, the joy that he played with, the connection he had with the fans. And, there’s not a coach alive who wouldn’t want to have Manu Ginobili on his team. Just a brilliant player.

08:53 It should be nice, he and Curry together?

08:55 That’d be hell of a back court. That’d be pretty nice, yeah.

08:58 Thank you so much.

08:59 Alright, thanks guys.

—

09:05 Alright, fire away.

09:09 This game feel like the playoff game?

09:12 BRANDIN PODZIEMSKI: Yeah. Every in-season tournament does, for sure. Trying to win, trying to get somewhere, beyond just these four games.

09:20 What was it like being out there with Steph tonight, doing what he was doing?

09:25 Yeah, it’s fun to be a part of, fun to watch. Just trying to help out in any way that I could.

09:32 How much more difficult did they make it tonight with, it seemed like they ramped up physicality and Wemby was kind of all over the place?

09:39 Just a little bit more switching. Last game they stayed with their matchup primarily and we were able to screen well. Tonight, they did a switch, so just had to figure it out on the fly.

09:48 When Steph goes to the line with six seconds left and they’re trying to fire up the crowd is, like, are you nervous at all? Or you just basically think it’s just an automatic two?

09:57 No, never.

09:59 What did you see on that last defensive play, Fox’s shot?

10:02 Yeah, Gary did a great job, good communication, thankfully missed the shot.

10:08 How needed did these two wins feel, as you guys were, you went 4-1, then it was 6-6. How big was this pocket of the schedule?

10:17 Yeah, any win always helps, but facing a team that’s 8-2, they had their rhythm coming in and getting two that we needed, it’s big for us.

10:28 Feel like you guys found a rhythm these last two games or anything in particular?

10:33 Just playing hard, ball movement. I think Steve just said we had the most passes in a game this year, last game for us. Yeah, that’s pretty much what I think, yeah.

10:45 Do you feel like anything has clicked for you these past couple games?

10:48 Nah, just playing hard, moving the ball, try not to turn it over. That’s pretty much it.

10:55 You guys were confident before to get these two and find the rhythm that you guys are in right now. What does it do for the group collectively?

11:11 I think it just gives everybody just a little bit more confidence that we can compete with anybody on anybody’s floor, but that’s really it. We don’t try to look too much into it.

11:24 Steph tied Michael Jordan for the most 40 point games after turning 30 tonight. Is it ever surreal, just like sharing the court, being a teammate with him?

11:32 Yeah, for sure. God’s blessed him in a lot of ways and he’s taken full advantage of all those blessings.

🫶💙💛