NBA star Stephen Curry is being labeled a ‘communist’ after signing a 10-year endorsement deal with controversial Chinese shoe manufacturer, Li-Ning, worth a reported $400 million.
‘Steph is about to be repping those Communist 1’s,’ former NBA center Enes Kanter Freedom wrote on X in response to an ESPN report about the total value of the agreement.
Industry sources told ESPN’s Shams Charania that Curry will be paid $400 million over the decade-long pact. That surpasses the reported $300 million he got from Under Armour for his last shoe deal, according to MarketWatch, and nearly eclipses his $470 million in career earnings from the Golden State Warriors.
The 38-year-old ended his sneaker free agency on Monday by announcing his partnership with Hong Kong billionaire Li-Ning’s eponymous company, which will make Curry-brand lifestyle gear and basketball products. According to ESPN, Curry’s deal also allows him to sign other athletes to his brand, in much the same way Michael Jordan has done with Nike.
The Daily Mail has sought comment from Curry’s agent and Li-Ning spokespeople.
Curry is hardly the first NBA player to ink a deal with Li-Ning, which has previously been endorsed by Jimmy Butler, CJ McCollum, D’Angelo Russell and even Dwyane Wade.
Stephen Curry is being labeled a ‘communist’ after signing a 10-year deal endorsement deal with controversial Chinese shoe manufacturer, Li-Ning, worth a reported $400 million
Enes Kanter Freedom took aim at Warriors star Steph Curry (center) and coach Steve Kerr
But while it’s been accepted by the biggest names in basketball, Li-Ning has been rejected by government watchdog groups and human-rights organizations. Currently, Li-Ning is among several Chinese companies accused of using forced labor to produce their goods and the brand has been banned in the United States since 2022.
Li-Ning denied the allegations in a 2022 statement to the Hong Kong Stock exchange, but it’s imports have yet to hit American stores as the effective ban has remained in place.
Kanter Freedom, who has blamed the abrupt end of his NBA career on China, lashed out at Curry on X by calling the agreement ‘shameful.’
‘Stephen Curry signs shoe endorsement contract with Chinese company Li-Ning,’ Kanter wrote on X.
‘He lectures America about ‘justice’ and ‘values’ while cashing checks from a company tied to the same Chinese system accused of forced labor, sweatshops, and brutal human rights abuses,’ he continued.
Kanter Freedom is pictured during his stint with the Boston Celtics in December of 2021
Kanter Freedom then took aim at Warriors coach Steve Kerr, who has been a frequent critic of the Trump administration.
‘He and Steve Kerr talk a big game politically, but always seem to appease China,’ Kanter Freedom added.
‘The #NBA loves activism until China is involved,’ he concluded. ‘Freedom for sale.’
A Swiss-born former-Turkish national who has criticized Presidnet Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, the former first-round pick became an American citizen in 2021 and marked the occasion by adding ‘Freedom’ to his surname. Now a darling of American conservatives, Kanter Freedom plans to run for office in 2028, when he will become eligible.
Shoppers walk past the sportswear and sports equipment company, Li-Ning, in Hong Kong
He is far from the only voice of criticism facing Curry and Li-Ning.
Congressman Chris Smith, a New Jersey Republican who co-chairs the executive commission on China, plans to ask the Department of Homeland Security to look deeper into Li-Ning imports, as he said Tuesday.
Smith also name dropped Curry in a statement to ESPN.
‘Steph Curry is one of the most talented and watched basketball players in the world, which is exactly why this matters,’ Smith said. ‘The NBA, its players, and sites like Amazon cannot suggest that they stand for social justice at home while cashing checks from companies tied to the Chinese Communist Party’s forced-labor economy.’
