The 'Unforgivable Error' Nike Made Which Cost Them Steph Curry Signing

Nike missed out on signing a long-term partnership with Steph Curry after some major errors during their attempts to sign him.

The 37-year-old is one of the all-time greats in the NBA thanks to his exploits on the basketball court, with the entirety of his career spent with the Golden State Warriors and continues to this day.

Curry has become an NBA Champion on four occasions - in 2015, 2017, 2018 and most recently in 2022 - as well as being crowned the NBA Finals MVP in 2022.

The point guard has also twice been named the NBA's Most Valuable Player and has been in the NBA's All-Star game 11 times.

Steph Curry has spent his entire career with the Golden State Warriors. (Image: Getty)

Recently Curry has split with his long-time sponsorship and sportswear partner in the form of Under Armour, with which he has been with for 13 years and with whom launched Curry Brand in 2020, but will soon go their separate ways.

Curry said: "Under Armour believed in me early in my career and gave me the space to build something much bigger and more impactful than a shoe. I'll always be grateful for that.

"Curry Brand was created to change the game for good and over the past five years, we successfully changed the game for kids, for communities, and for basketball.

"What Curry Brand stands for, what I stand for and my commitment to that mission will never change, it's only growing stronger.

Steph Curry has split with Under Armour after 13 years together. (Image: Getty)

"I'm excited for a future that's focused on aggressive growth with a continued commitment to keep showing up for the next generation."

During the early years of Curry's career, he had worn Nike, but four years into this, he was seeking his first major sponsorship deal.

Nike offered him $2.5m annually to continue their sponsorship arrangement, but Under Armour - which was not as well known a brand as it is now - offered Curry $4m a year and become the face of the company, which he duly accepted.

But a major reason for Curry going against Nike and rejecting their advances was that a company official inexplicably mispronounced his first name, calling him 'Steph-on' instead of 'Steph-en', his father told ESPN in 2016.

In addition to this, a repurposed PowerPoint side displayed Kevin Durant's name rather than his.

Nico Harrison, who was Nike's Vice President of North American basketball operations, took the brunt of the backlash and was associated with the company's infamous mistake.

But he made it clear it was not him who actually made the error, even though he was associated with it due to being more well known.

Speaking to the Point Forward podcast, he said: "There is an article out. And the article says I mispronounced his name. It wasn't me. It absolutely wasn't me.

"But they didn't know the other person, they knew me. So, they say I mispronounced his name because it's sexy.

"But I'm like, first of all, I've known this guy forever, like since he was in high school. I used to represent his dad. How am I going to mispronounce his name? I might have called him Seth, but I wasn't going to mispronounce his name.

"So yeah, Nike made a mistake. In all honesty, if he would have stayed with Nike, his business would be a monster right now. A monster."