Fool me once, shame on you.
Believe it or not, Nico Harrison sending Luka Doncic packing to the Los Angeles wasn’t the worst move that he’s made in his professional career.
That honor belongs to the time when Harrison was an executive at Nike back in 2013, who was responsible for pitching a young Steph Curry on signing with the shoe brand.
The details of that disastrous meeting are well documented at this point.
From mispronouncing Curry’s first name as “Steph-on,” to leaving a slide with Kevin Durant‘s name on it during the presentation, never offering him a signature shoe, it was an abject disaster.
Curry went on to sign with Under Armour and the rest was history.
The two-time MVP joined forces with the brand shortly after in 2013, which began the start of a highly successful 11-year partnership which has seen the brand’s worth double from $14 billion to $28 billion over the last few years.
The all-time leader in 3-pointers quickly became the face of Under Armour and together they have released ten signature Curry shoes.
In November 2020, Under Armour announced the launch of Curry Brand — a standalone label — in a bid to compete with Nike‘s Jordan Brand.
Curry became president of the Curry Brand in 2023 after agreeing to a long term deal which also gave him $75 million in Under Armour shares.
Details of the extension were kept under close wraps. However, it has been described as a ‘$1 billion lifetime contract’ due to it extending way beyond his playing career.
It’s fair to call Harrison’s handling of Curry a $1 billon blunder as that is what his contract could end up being worth with Under Armour.
And Nike could have had him.
Curry’s iconic #30 could have been paired to the equally iconic Nike swoosh if Harrison and his team didn’t fumble their presentation and pitch so terribly.
At the time it didn’t seem to be too big of a deal that Curry spurred Nike, as no one could have imagined the star he would become.
Four championships, one global brand and an endless amount of iconic moments later, safe to say that Curry got the last laugh.
The future Hall of Famer has proven himself to be a winner on and off the court during his 15-year NBA career.
In 2017, the Golden State superstar signed the NBA’s first $200 million contract before landing a second $215 million four-year contract extension in 2021.
He’s amassed a net worth of around $240 million according to Celebrity NetWorth and, much like Michael Jordan, LeBron James, and Magic Johnson, has become a serious force in the business world.
Meanwhile, Harrison has been under constant criticism for the way he handled the Doncic trade and even trading his franchise superstar to begin with.
That move was easy to spot in real time as an awful decision, unlike the Curry-Nike debacle which took a few years to see how big of a fumble it was.
Doncic and the Lakers are set to compete for titles for the foreseeable future, while Harrison and the Mavericks are circling the drain.
And the it’s been going, Harrison may not have a job for much longer.
