The Making of Curry 9: 18 Months With Steph

Creating the Curry 9 involved an unprecedented collaboration between athlete and engineers. Over 18 months, Steph Curry participated in 47 design sessions, including 3D gait analysis at UA's Lighthouse lab. The process began with Curry marking up previous models with surgical tape to indicate pressure points. Designers then created 213 midsole variations before settling on the current dual-density configuration. Most revolutionary was the "sockless" testing phase, where Curry played full-court games without socks to identify friction points. The UA team discovered that traditional tongue designs caused irritation during his signature toe-tap shooting preparation, leading to the integrated sleeve construction. Materials scientists developed a new warp-knit composite that's 19% more breathable than previous versions while maintaining 19% better abrasion resistance. Perhaps the most demanding test came when Curry insisted the shoes withstand his grueling "night court" sessions - post-practice shooting drills done in near darkness to simulate fatigue. The final validation? Curry wore prototype 9s during his 50-point playoff performance against Sacramento, after which he simply told designers, "Don't change a thing."