Stephen Curry and Kevin Durant agree to disagree about Under Armour

Stephen Curry and Under Armour took a slight hit last year behind the struggles on Curry 3 sales, but that doesn’t mean Curry will let anyone trash talk his product — especially not his teammate.

In an interview with the Charlotte Observer, Curry said he talked to Kevin Durant after the Finals MVP cited Under Armour as a reason Maryland schools didn’t retain prospects. “Nobody wants to play in Under Armours,” Durant said in a podcast with Bill Simmons.

Curry told Scott Fowler that he and Durant came to a mutual understanding after their conversation.

“I told him that he has a certain opinion based on his experience growing up in the Nike business,” Curry said. “But when it comes to what I’m trying to do with Under Armour, and what the Curry brand means and what Under Armour basketball means, that statement does not ring true at all.”

Curry continued to say he wasn’t mad with Durant for saying what he said and told the Observer it wouldn’t become a team issue in Golden State.

Brand loyalty matters to these athletes. Both of them are paid handsomely by their respective companies to endorse their sneakers and merchandise on and off the court. When Durant took his shot at Under Armour, he did it with building up Nike in mind. With this response, Curry is protecting Under Armour and his own personal brand.

Neither of them should take what was said personally, and that was probably a point of conversation during their discussion. This was bound to happen with Durant signing in Golden State. He’s one of Nike’s three biggest active athletes and Curry is Under Armour’s biggest name. The clash between the two is a natural thing.

For now, it’s business as usual.

And that could have become a point of contention between the two all-stars at some point. Curry addressed the situation head on, which removes some of the tension between the two, but he also flexed his pull here by saying he approached Durant about the situation.

The two came to a mutual understanding, which is good news for the Warriors if indeed any potential issues are fully squashed. Curry’s comments in the media are also understandable because Durant did the same the other way. But two wrongs don’t always make a right, and if Curry’s comments are taken the wrong way, they could hinder the relationship between the two.

Still, it shouldn’t be a big deal because Curry talked to Durant first. With the opportunity the Warriors have moving forward, it’s best for both of their MVP’s to be on the same page.

Nike is still king of the sneaker world. It holds the biggest market share in the athletic footwear market on Wall Street at 36 percent, according to market analyst Matt Powell of the NPD Group. Under Armour sits at just 2.4 percent in that regard.

But context is important. Nike has been a growth machine in the sneaker footwear market for decades, while Under Armour is just beginning to dabble in the same space. With that in mind, the Curry 3 still outsold the KD 9 as the third-best selling signature shoe in the league behind the LeBron 14 and the Kyrie 3.

Under Armour has made huge strides in the last four years since Curry signed with the brand in 2013. In 2016, the company’s sales jumped 64 percent behind the Curry 1 and Curry 2.

It’s no coincidence that this happened directly after the Warriors’ first finals run. The same spike could happen again for the upcoming Curry 4 if the Warriors perform as expected. Under Armour is in a much better place than they were four years ago.

No, it isn’t Nike. But Under Armour is still on the rise mostly behind Curry’s popularity. Kids love his shoes and they’ll continue to buy them as long as the Warriors stay in the limelight.

That won’t change anytime soon.