Before his accomplishments made Stephen Curry a player worthy of all-time mentions, there was no signature shoe in his future. Curry had been with Nike for the first four years of his career. With the biggest basketball clientele, the Chef initially fielded the prospect of remaining with Nike. But then came the infamous meeting, where they reused their Kevin Durant presentation to try to persuade the now three-point king of the NBA. As a brand, Nike lost billions because of their recklessness. But did they get anything right?

While discussing sports on the Dan Patrick Show, the hosts had an interesting dilemma to tackle. “Did Stephen Curry now make the PH a little more acceptable to the masses?” they wondered. The respected analyst felt Nike assumed the Warriors cornerstone’s name to be ‘Steven’ because of the way he spells his name. The world has become accustomed to the four-time champion. Hence, it sounds absurd.

However, they did a comprehensive study. They used none other than Google to get some clarifications. “So I think just from a quick Google search, S-T-E-P-H-A-N is Stephen, S-T-E-P-H-A-N is Steven, but Steph Curry spells his name like Stephen. Well, so he actually technically is wrong,” one of the panel members prompted.

After a few seconds to realize the facts, Dan Patrick reiterated the same. “So Nike was correct. He was wrong,” he said. The conversation quickly took a humorous turn as they began blaming his father Dell and his family for coming up with the spelling.

However, it also proved that Nike began the meeting on the right foot. But the story is slightly inaccurate in regards to Dan Patrick and his panel. The Swoosh did make a mistake.

And it cost them billions.

The real story between Nike and Stephen Curry

Here is how the actual meeting went. Before Nike used outdated presentations in their futile attempt to lure Curry, they called him Stephon. Nobody in the room knew his real name, even after he was on the foothold of becoming an NBA star. Even with the hasty build-up, though, a $2.5 million deal was on the table for Curry.

However, there was no chance for him to become one of the elite athletes of the brand. “They have certain tiers of athletes. They have Kobe, LeBron and Durant, who were their three main guys. If he signed back with them, we’re on that second tier,” said Dell Curry.

So came Under Armour, an up-and-coming brand with no athletic representation. They offered Curry $4 million per year with a chance to become the face of a brand. Nike didn’t bat an eye, and that’s where the dollars slipped. Today, the Curry brand has its own retail store in China, has signed De’Aaron Fox as its signature athlete and Curry himself has 12 versions of his exclusive sneaker.

Additionally. the company has experienced a dramatic boom since signing Curry. Their stock price increased and within the first few years, the brand value catapulted. Currently, reports claim the Curry Brand alone is responsible for $250 million in revenue each year for Under Armour.

Their successful partnership led to Curry signing a long-term deal that was said to be worth $1 billion. As part of the deal, the Curry Brand becomes a sub-brand. Through it, the Warriors ace is hoping to branch beyond basketball and curate lifestyle products that cater to everyone.

If only Nike had rightly placed the skyrocketing future of Curry.