Stephen CurryPoint Guard, Golden State Warriors · Author, Investor, Entrepreneur, Philanthropist

Kobe Mambacita - The first pair I wore during sneaker free agency!

25 Apr 2026 · 1 min

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1:18

In this interview, the speaker recounts the lead‑up to his first game in San Antonio after a rapid free‑agency period. Once his new contract was finalized, he faced the decision of which shoe to debut on the court, aiming to break away from his previous Under Armour partnership and possibly introduce his own signature model. He discusses collaborating with Nick DePaola, brainstorming various concepts—including a dramatic barefoot entrance—and ultimately selecting the "Mamacita" shoe. The choice is framed as a storytelling vehicle that honors Kobe Bryant and his daughter Gigi, reflecting the speaker’s role as a "girl dad" and his desire to use his platform for a heartfelt tribute without expecting anything in return.

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Okay, take us back to the first game in San Antonio.
So the backstory to this whole thing, the free agency season came pretty fast. It was from one week to the next, it became clear that this is the direction it was headed. And once my deal was done, it was like, what do you do now? And having that question, you know, and Nick DePaola, who's been a part of, you know, the process the entire time, we had a conversation going into that San Antonio game about which shoe would be kind of the the right one to kind of break the seal on me not wearing an Under Armour shoe or my own signature shoe on the court. And we had a lot of ideas, even to the point of me walking in barefoot into the game and actually having a moment like that. But when it came down to it, I think the Mamacita spoke to how important storytelling is in a shoe, what Kobe and Gigi meant and still mean to basketball. He's an inspiration and as a— Yeah. Girl dad and being able to leverage, you know, a platform to obviously pay tribute to him, but have a moment that was special to me, and hopefully to their family, and not really asking anything in return. It was just to be able to pay tribute. Thank you.