Steph Curry Wears Shaq and Penny's Retro Sneakers in Orlando

Stephen Curry rocked retro Reebok and Nike sneakers before facing the Orlando Magic.

Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry warms up before a game against the Orlando Magic. | Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images

Tonight, the Golden State Warriors pay a visit to the Orlando Magic, and Stephen Curry is using the road game to honor two NBA legends by flexing his newfound sneaker free agency. Magic legends Shaquille O'Neal and Penny Hardaway both saw their retro sneakers get the spotlight tonight.

Curry arrived at the Kia Center wearing the Reebok Shaqnosis in a classic black and white colorway. For warm-ups, he changed into the Nike Air Penny 2 in the "Volt" colorway. The old-school basketball shoes were popularized in the 1990s when the O'Neal and Hardaway-ed Magic were in their heyday.

Not only is it an incredibly cool gesture that is legendary to witness, but it adds another new interesting chapter to Curry's ongoing sneaker free agency. Last week, Under Armour and Curry split ways. There are still some unanswered questions, but Curry is dropping hints with each game.

NBA fans can certainly expect a response from O'Neal. He is the President of Reebok Basketball and would love to land one of the greatest players of all time. However, it would go against his Moneyball strategy of signing undervalued players with high upside (like WNBA All-Star Angel Reese).

It is a small sample size, but after two games, it appears that Curry will use his pregame sneakers to pay homage to key individuals. It is also a sign of the bidding war between competing sneaker brands that is probably already underway behind the scenes.

Curry could continue trying to build Curry Brand with the help of outside investors. Or he could move on to a different company. We broke down the top five landing spots for Curry, with Reebok and Nike both making the list.

Meanwhile, Curry still has his 13th and final signature Under Armour basketball shoe scheduled to launch in February 2026. Several colorways hit shelves through October 2026. For tonight's game, Curry switched into the Curry Series 7 - what he calls a "basketball super shoe."

Before his first game after the breakup with Under Armour, Curry wore Nike Kobe 6 Protro in the heartfelt "Mambacita Sweet 16" colorway as a tribute to Kobe and Gigi Bryant. He switched back to wearing the Curry 11 during the game.

After last Friday's game, Curry acknowledged that it was weird seeing him in a different brand's shoes before explaining, "But just the idea of what he meant. I talked about Kobe a lot. And that specific pair, I think it speaks for itself, what it means. And other than that, it's just something that wanted to take, you know, advantage of that moment and pay tribute. And I think it gave me some good energy tonight."

It is already shaping up to be a much more exciting year in footwear for Curry than we imagined. Stay locked into Sports Illustrated's Kicks On SI for all your footwear news from the sports world and beyond.