As ESPN's Ethan Sherwood Strauss reports, in August 2013, Stephen Curry met with Nike officials in an Oakland hotel about extending his shoe deal.
Steph's dad, former NBA player Dell Curry, says the meeting went badly.
Early in the meeting, somebody mispronounced Stephen's name, accidentally saying "Steph-on." "I heard some people pronounce his name wrong before," says Dell. "I wasn't surprised. I was surprised that I didn't get a correction."
Nike had a presentation, which included the name Kevin Durant, presumably left in by accident, making it seem like the presentation was an old one they were recycling. "I stopped paying attention after that," Dell says.
Then there was the matter of Nike explaining that Stephen would not be a star at Nike. "They have certain tiers of athletes," Dell says. "They have Kobe, LeBron and Durant, who were their three main guys. If he signed back with them, we're on that second tier."
The whole thing reminded Dell of when his son came out of high school. "Wasn't highly recruited, wasn't highly respected, wasn't highly thought of," Dell says. "It was kind of like that, you know?"
Dell's message for his son was succinct: "Don't be afraid to try something new." Steph Curry had thrived on proving people wrong for the entirety of his career. He had delighted in it, even. And Nike was giving him fuel.