Steph Curry Debuts Kyrie Irving's New Signature Sneakers

The biggest footwear storyline of the NBA season has been Golden State Warriors point guard Stephen Curry's sneaker free agency. Curry has worn a wide range of kicks since his unexpected split with Under Armour in November.

Curry has maintained that his goal is to pay tribute to players, teams, cities, and important elements of basketball history - not to send a message to potential business partners.

Stephen Curry arrives in Dallas in Kyrie Irving’s ANTA lifestyle sneaker and the KAI 3 in hand 👀 pic.twitter.com/FQFCcTgT0q
— Nick DePaula (@NickDePaula) January 22, 2026

Curry's sneaker free agency coincided with Dallas Mavericks point guard Kyrie's footwear saga on Thursday night. Irving has spent the entire season recovering from a torn ACL, which he suffered last Spring. Irving has not been able to play in his third signature sneaker - the ANTA KAI3.

So before last night's game between the Warriors and Mavericks, Curry reached out to Irving for permission to debut the ANTA KAI3. It was a nice gesture and a major assist from the most coveted sneaker free agent in the NBA.

Steph Curry is wearing the "Chinese New Year" ANTA KAI 3 against the Mavericks, showing love to Kyrie Irving 🔥 pic.twitter.com/ns0bgJs5X0
— B/R Kicks (@brkicks) January 22, 2026

Before and after the game, Curry wore Irving's lifestyle sneakers, the ANTA Hélà Style, walking around American Airlines Center. During the game, Curry broke from his norm of wearing the Nike Sabrina 3 to lace up the ANTA KAI3 in the "Chinese New Year" colorway.

"It's nothing but mutual respect and admiration for what he's done in his career," Curry said after the game. The battles that we've had, the deeper you get into it, you appreciate the fact that his talent kind of raised your level throughout the journey. We don't get to spend that much time together, but there's that mutual respect."

Steph Curry said he asked Kyrie Irving if he was cool with him wearing his shoes since he hasn’t worn them himself on the court 🤝

“It’s nothing but mutual respect and admiration for what he’s done in his career. The battles that we’ve had, the deeper you get into it, you… pic.twitter.com/xaNCjJpKSx
— SneakerAlert (@SneakerAlertHD) January 23, 2026

This was a significant move by Curry, as he recently explained his gameplan was to begin narrowing down the number of shoes he wears on the court to gain consistency. However, Curry was willing to put away the Nike Sabrina 3 for one game to lend an assist to Irving and ANTA.

NBA fans can expect to see Curry continuing to rock a wide range of hoop shoes as his sneaker free agency rolls on throughout this season. Stay locked into Sports Illustrated's Kicks On SI for all your footwear news from the NBA and beyond.

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