Not a lot of things to thank Nico Harrison for these days. Not for breaking Dallas’ spirit on February 2, 2025, nor his handling of Anthony Davis and Kyrie Irving’s injuries by leaving the team shorthanded and unable to regain assets. Definitely not for putting Cooper Flagg in an unpleasant situation. Even the ‘Fire Nico’ chants, having a demoralizing effect on the team, according to Jason Kidd, boils down to Harrison’s decision-making failures…

Yet, on November 13, 2025, at least some people can look back and thank Nico Harrison. Those people are the guys at Under Armour. At least fans find the timing of everything hilarious.

Why? Over a decade ago, he drove a future superstar out from Nike’s doorstep to another humble brand. The outcome was Under Armour emerging as a direct competitor to the U.S. apparel giant at the prime of Stephen Curry’s career and the Warriors’ dynasty.

After more than a decade of global success, Under Armour and Stephen Curry are going in different directions. However, it can’t be discounted that Nico Harrison played a special role in the creation of the Curry Brand, which will soon become an independent entity under its namesake.

We roll back the calendar to 2013. Nike had the fourth-year point guard, Stephen Curry, on their roster. At the time, Nike executive Nico Harrison helmed the company’s entire basketball vertical, which was tasked with making a pitch to the Splash Bro. It was a once-in-a-generation kind of opportunity.

Among the many offenses committed during that pitch, these were the three major ones:

1. The presenter referred to Steph as Seth. Yes, the relatively less popular Curry sibling. But some reports claim it was also ‘Steph-on.’
2. Kevin Durant’s name was in the presentation even though KD was three years away from joining the Dubs (probably accidentally from an older deck)
3. They didn’t offer him a signature shoe. It’s still a mystery what that pitch was for at all.

So Stephen Curry backed out of Nike and found a bootstrapping brand in Under Armour. But years later, UA almost committed the same faux pas as Harrison. They wised up, however, and became profitable; they are now comfortable with this mutual separation…

Under Armour and Stephen Curry avoided a Dallas-Nico situation!

Fans find a delicious irony that Stephen Curry abruptly ended the partnership a day after Nico Harrison was fired from the Dallas Mavericks. “There’s something very ironic here about this happening days after Nico Harrison lost his job with the Mavericks. Nico Harrison cost Nike the chance to sign Curry years ago,” as one said. But it was what Harrison’s lack of foresight taught UA that’s also significant.

The Baby-faced Assassin doesn’t usually show his anger in conventional ways. He’s creative. Harrison definitely annoyed him enough to drop Nike and tout UA for its “underdog mentality.” Until recently, the failed Nike pitch was honestly forgotten about. But now, Nico Harrison, whose Nike-forged connections with Kobe Bryant and Rob Pelinka foreshadowed the Luka trade, is being reminded that he was the culprit, springing to the forefront after recent news.

It is known that it was Harrison’s Nike team that botched the Curry pitch all those years ago. Can’t fault people for re-questioning, “Is this for real? Nico was the guy at Nike? If so, that guy doesn’t belong anywhere in marketing or management. hOLY cow.”

It’s funnier that Steph was 25 when it happened, the same age as Luka Doncic when he arrived in LA!

“So Nico Harrison botched the Curry deal for Nike when Steph was 25, and then traded Luka at 25 to the Lakers. And took no accountability for either one being a generational miss. Got it,” a netizen wrote. It maybe foreshadowed what the Mavericks didn’t see. “Curry was on to Nico before everyone else was.”

But Stephen Curry didn’t let UA take him for granted either. When his signature sneakers were being mocked as bowling shoes and ‘middle-aged dad’ kicks, the sharpshooter was upset about the breakthrough apparel company’s lack of marketing efforts.

In 2017, Curry threatened to leave if Under Armour didn’t show better commitment. He had already taken its CEO, Kevin Plank, to task for some political comments. “If something is not in line with what I’m about, then, yeah, I definitely need to take a stance in that respect,” the Warriors ace speculated soon after Plank’s viral comment on Donald Trump.

The Splash Bro left a titan like Nike because of Harrison. He had to be taken seriously. The Curry Brand was formed in 2020, and by 2023, the NBA star had received $75 million in UA stock, leading the apparel brand to take on more social accountability.

Given how Nike dropped the ball with Stephen Curry, there’s, funnily enough, some truth to this fan’s statement. “Nico Harrison is the guy you call if you want to destroy something,” a fan lightheartedly wrote on X. The Warriors ace will be free to find a new retail partner after 2026. For the uninitiated, the Curry 13s are scheduled to drop in February of next year, with additional colorways and collections available through October.

Some believe now that without Under Armour’s connections, “Curry + Nike is meant to be. Nico Harrison isn’t there to mess up the Nike pitch like last time the pitched Steph.” Unless, of course, a certain unemployed former NBA exec worms his way back to the Swoosh.