NBA Star Launches Brand that will invest in Under-Served Communities

December 4, 2020 

NBA star Stephen Curry and sports equipment company Under Armour have launched the Curry Brand which aims to reach 100,000 young athletes globally by 2025. The new brand will feature footwear, apparel and accessories backed by Under Armour’s performance product innovations. A percentage of the Curry Brand’s yearly revenue will be invested in under-resourced communities. 

By 2025, the Curry Brand wants to create at least 20 safe places to play, support 125 programs that impact young athletes and deliver opportunities to train more than 15,000 coaches — making an overall impact on more than 100,000 youth. 

As a child, Curry grew up surrounded by the power of sport and community. While playing for the Charlotte Hornets, his father Dell Curry became increasingly active in the North Carolina community, and established The Dell Curry Foundation to support youth in the area. While Stephen has followed in his father’s footsteps building a prolific career in professional basketball, he’s also done so as a philanthropist, making it a priority to give back to the community with he and his wife Ayesha’s youth-focused family foundation, Eat. Learn. Play. 

“We have a shared goal of unlocking play for kids, so that became a natural place for us to focus,” Curry said of the partnership with Under Armour. “I grew up doing a lot of things to give back to the community with my family—and continue that now—while Under Armour has done so much to support athletes around the world.”  

Stephen has made youth his focus with his philanthropic efforts because he believes achieving success should not be dictated by circumstance. When it comes to athletics, less than 30% of kids ages 6 to 18 growing up in low-income households participate in organized sports, and low-income kids are six times more likely to quit sports because of financial costs. And now, as many sports programs impose increased fees and logistical hurdles in response to the coronavirus pandemic, experts anticipate participation will only decrease. 

“Play is a fundamental part of childhood and is critical to development. So much of who I am as a person and a leader today is because of playing sports as a kid,” Curry said. “I learned the value of hard work, resilience, teamwork, communication, time management—sports teach young athletes so many critical life skills, which is why I’m passionate about making sure everyone has access to these opportunities, first through my foundation and now through Curry Brand.” 

Curry Brand will first invest in the sport where Stephen built his platform—basketball. Investments in three pillars will be the focus areas for the brand: 

• Safe Places to Play: Build inspiring spaces to learn and grow on and off the court. The brand will invest in court refurbs and sustainable programming of those spaces. 
• Programming and Product: Resources and products to support team sports through regional school systems and local organizations. 
• Coaching and Leadership Development: Investing in the recruitment and training of people to be great sports coaches for kids in under-resourced communities.  

“For many years, Stephen and Under Armour have worked together in partnership—a partnership built around shared values,” said Patrik Frisk, Under Armour President and CEO. “Through this brand, we have an opportunity to push forward our vision for a better world, especially for young athletes facing challenges with access and opportunity for sport." 

While Curry Brand’s efforts will eventually reach communities worldwide, they will begin in Oakland. In collaboration with local organizations like Positive Coaching Alliance and Coaching Corps, they will provide professional development for every youth sports coach in the Oakland Unified School District and the Oakland Parks & Recreation Department. Oakland will then serve as a model for other regions.