CNN Money: The tempest started on Tuesday when Under Armour CEO Kevin Plank called Trump a “real asset” to the U.S. and Steph Curry took issue.
Curry had a different take.
“I agree with that description,” Curry told The Mercury News, “if you remove the ‘et’ from asset.”
I would like tip my hat to Steph Curry. Hell, I’ll take my hat entirely off for Steph. Politics aside, it’s great to see an athlete stand up for something he believes in, even if it will affect his wallet. Curry doesn’t want to support a company and allow them to utilize his celebrity to push forward an agenda he doesn’t agree with. Props.
Steph Curry is not only a sponsored athlete, he also has an ownership stake in the company. What does it say about the company’s direction, when he’s willing to take a financial loss to not associate himself with it? Who really suffers here? I’d vote Under Armor. Steph can walk out tomorrow and get Nike or Adidas as a new sponsor.
Nike missed their chance to sign Curry early on. Nike has also come out strongly against Trump. Match made in heaven?
“If I can say the leadership is not in line with my core values, then there is no amount of money, there is no platform I wouldn’t jump off,” Curry told The Mercury News.
Respect.
Now, while, I may or may not agree with President Trump or what Kevin Plank has to say about Trump, I don’t think Plank is a completely bad dude. Plank’s an American success story. He’s new money. He’s investing in Baltimore. I don’t know if he’s creating jobs in Baltimore that will help working class Baltimore residents, though. I think the jobs being created are more likely to attract recent college grads that will move to Federal Hill and party it up on Preakness Weekend (take my word for it, that’s a blast). Also, he is known to quote Drake often. I don’t know if I love or hate that.
That being said. Let’s remember that 95% of Under Armor’s products are manufactured outside of the United States. Those are numbers given by Plank. Not me