The sneaker wars shift dramatically every time Stephen Curry has a new logo on his feet. This week, Dallas Mavericks superstar Kyrie Irving addressed the intense scrutiny since The Chef sported his shoes. After a couple of days of letting us speculate Curry’s potential move to ANTA, Kyrie himself opened up about the possibility. And he didn’t hold back.

Steph’s experimented with multiple brands during his sneaker free agency since the breakup with Under Armor.  After Curry was spotted as the first person other than Irving to wear a rare ANTA sneaker repped by Kyrie Irving, the signature athlete confirmed that the Golden State Warriors superstar had officially reached out to the Chinese sportswear giant.

“I’m grateful to Steph. Organically, he ended up reaching out to the brand since he’s a free agent. It was legendary,” Irving told Andscape when asked about the viral sightings of Curry in his signature kicks. Well, Kyrie has some pull. Besides signature athlete, he’s also the Chief Creative Officer for ANTA and helped them open their first US flagship store. Not a big deal for him to send a pair to a fellow shooter.

Kyrie noted that while the two have often been pitted against one another as rivals, they are now finding common ground in the business world. “We’re two competitors, two point guards, where our branding… sometimes we’ve been aligned, sometimes not, and we go at each other.”

Despite their oncourt rivalry, this move could signal a massive power shift away from the known sneaker giants. That made Irving issue a daring declaration regarding the company’s standing in the industry.  “But I feel like (at ANTA), we’re making that mark, where not only are we gonna say we have great product, but we have the community to match it.”

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Irving didn’t mince words when inviting Curry to make the partnership official. “I’d love to have Steph on the brand. I’m just throwing it out there, man. We have the best product out there, the best brand.”

If reports are to be believed, Stephen Curry might just take up Kyrie’s offer.

Kyrie Irving may have won the Stephen Curry sneaker sweepstakes

Stephen Curry remains sidelined with runner’s knee but that hasn’t stopped him from making ripples off the court. From Bay Area insiders hinting at his potential 2028 Olympic plans to rolling up to  All-Star Weekend in former teammate/now Kyrie’s teammate, Klay Thompson’s KT11 ANTA shoes, he’s kept things interesting to say the least.

He’s reportedly shortlisted three brands to potentially signed with since his Under Armor contract ends this year. ANTA is one of them because he wore a second pair from the brand, the ANTA Sneakerverse SV Eclosion Type 2. Only this time it was different. These shoes he got from Kyrie himself bore the Curry Brand logo on the heel.

None of the previous brands he tested had the logo. So there was plenty of reason to think that ANTA has unofficially landed Curry. 

The prospect of Curry joining Irving at ANTA would represent one of the most significant marketing coups in sports history. Since Irving signed his massive nine-figure deal with ANTA in 2023, the brand has seen a meteoric rise in global visibility.

Multiple sneaker reviews claimed the Kyrie’s sneakers are one of the most highly rated performance basketball shoes of 2024, after the Curry 12.

Industry analysts suggest that an Irving-Curry duo would give ANTA an unprecedented stronghold on the guard market, particularly in the lucrative Asian sector. While Curry has yet to make an official announcement regarding his next long-term home, Irving’s bold claim and the presence of the Curry brand logo on their sneaker hints that this deal is nearly set in stone.