Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry said he questioned his ties with sportswear retailer Under Armour after its CEO praised President Trump as good for business.
The 28-year-old basketball star, who endorsed Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton in September, told The San Jose Mercury News during an interview Wednesday that he spent “all day yesterday” on the phone trying to get to the bottom of where Under Armour stood on Mr. Trump’s policies.
The company’s founder and CEO, Kevin Plank, told CNBC on Tuesday that a pro-business president like Mr. Trump “is something that is a real asset for the country.”
“He wants to make bold decisions and be really decisive,” Mr. Plank said. “I’m a big fan of people that operate in the world of publish and iterate versus think, think, think, think, think. So there’s a lot that I respect there.”
Under Armour later released a statement Wednesday explaining that the company engages in policy, not politics, and that it considers its diversity to be its biggest strength.
Mr. Curry, who has a contract with Under Armour through 2024, said he agreed that the president is an “asset,” if “you remove the ’et.’”
He told The Mercury News: “Based off the release that KP sent out this morning, and what he told me last night, that’s the Under Armour that I know. That’s the brand I know he’s built and one that, as of Wednesday afternoon, is something that I’m standing on.”
Mr. Curry said a deal-breaker for him would be if Under Armour started adopting some of Mr. Trump’s values.
“It’s a fine line but it’s about how we’re operating,” he said, “how inclusive we are, what we stand for. He’s the president. There are going to be people that are tied to them. But are we promoting change? Are we doing things that are going to look out for everybody? And not being so self-serving that it’s only about making money, selling shoes, doing this and that. That’s not the priority. It’s about changing lives. I think we can continue to do that.”
Mr. Curry said he would consider leaving Under Armour if he decided the company’s leadership didn’t align with his core values.
“If there is a situation where I can look at myself in the mirror and say they don’t have my best intentions, they don’t have the right attitude about taking care of people,” he said. “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 if it wasn’t in line with who I am. So that’s a decision I will make every single day when I wake up. If something is not in line with what I’m about, then, yeah, I definitely need to take a stance in that respect.”
• Jessica Chasmar can be reached at jchasmar@washingtontimes.com.
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