Did you know that Nico Harrison was a part of the reason why Nike lost Steph Curry to Under Armour? That’s right, the guy who infamously traded a generational Slovenian talent for Anthony “Street Clothes” Davis was also involved in one of the biggest fumbles in Nike’s history. How this man went from being a mediocre professional basketball player to a big-shot corporate executive at Nike to the President of Basketball Operations for the Dallas Mavericks is a testament to the term “failing upwards.” 

The year is 2013, and Steph and the Golden State Warriors have just come off a promising season. His current sneaker deal is about to expire, and so the soon-to-be-MVP begins taking pitch meetings with the biggest brands. A company named Under Armour offers Steph a $4 million contract, a signature shoe, and the opportunity to become the face of the brand. However, at this time, Under Armour is still an upstart and fairly new to the game. As such, this should prove an easy win for Nike. However, at the meeting, things go south pretty quick. 

During the meeting, a representative for Nike supposedly mispronounced Steph’s name, calling him “Steph-on” instead of “Steph-en.” Articles circulated stating that Harrison was the one to do this. However, while on the Point Forward podcast with Andre Iguodala and Evan Turner, Harrison clarified that he was not the one to mispronounce Steph’s name, but that he may have called him “Seth” (the name of Steph’s brother) during the meeting. That is worse, Nico, that is worse. Furthermore, the PowerPoint presentation given by Nico and his colleagues was apparently one that had been previously prepared for Kevin Durant, with KD’s name plastered all over the slides.

Both of these misfires, alongside the fact that Nike weren’t willing to give Steph a signature shoe, made Curry’s decision easy. The fact that Nico Harrison was the point man for both this and the Luka trade, two colossal fumbles, and yet still somehow finds a way to get high-profile positions, is truly curious. Watch out, Adam Silver, the man’s coming for you next.