Sneaker Wars: Steph Curry and Under Armour head to Asia

The sneaker wars are heating up, and Under Armour is trying to grow its business in China and Asia. With Steph Curry they have an ambassador that may be able to help, and the video above sums up the battle nicely.

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Nike sticks with Maria Sharapova

Tennis start Maria Sharapova was recently hit with a two-year ban by the International Tennis Federation, but Nike is sticking with the sexy Russian player even as other brands have distanced themselves from her. It’s an interesting move by Nike as it’s showing loyalty that might help them with other athletes.

Nike vs Adidas at Euro 2016

The huge rivalry between Nike and Adidas will play out at the 2016 Euro tournament that started yesterday. The amount of buzz and money on the line is staggering for these sneaker and sports brands with a tournament of this size. The video above gives a rundown of the rivalry in the context of this tournament.

Chaos within NBA players union

The executive director of the National Basketball Association players’ association, Billy Hunter. REUTERS/Lucas Jackson (UNITED STATES – Tags: SPORT EMPLOYMENT BUSINESS BASKETBALL)

Adrian Wojnarowski has the latest on the turmoil within the NBA players association, and the picture isn’t pretty.

After Billy Hunter made the grand stand of marching out of Friday’s bargaining session, refusing to negotiate below 52 percent of the NBA’s revenue split, a strong movement within the Players Association emerged that vowed the union will never let him act so unilaterally again.

From superstars to midlevel players to rookies, there’s an unmistakable push to complete the final elements of the system and take this labor deal to the union’s 400-plus membership. Beyond that, there’s an even larger movement to push Hunter, the Players Association’s executive director, out the door once these labor talks are done. All hell’s broken loose within the union, and no one is exactly sure how they’re going to get a deal to the finish line.

“Billy can’t just say it’s 52 or nothing, and walk out again,” one league source involved with the talks told Yahoo! Sports. “That will not happen again. It’s time that the players get to make a decision on this, and there won’t be another check lost before they do.”

Rest assured, there’s a vast gulf in the union, and it’s growing with the passing of every day. Players Association president Derek Fisher’s(notes) letter to the players convinced no one otherwise. NBA commissioner David Stern and the owners know it, and it’s part of the reason they won’t raise their offer of the BRI revenue split to 51 percent. There are system issues that need to be resolved for players, but this deal gets done at 50-50, and that’s been true for a long, long time.

In the end, there are two courses for the union: Take the deal largely on the table or blow this up, decertify and lose the season fighting the NBA in the federal courts.

Only, it’s too late to decertify. Everyone wanted to do it back in July when the lockout started, and Hunter refused. His decision had nothing to do with legal strategy, nothing to do with leverage or getting the best possible deal for the players. It had everything to do with what it always does with Hunter: self-preservation. He worried about losing power, losing his job, and he sold everyone on a toothless National Labor Relations Board claim that’s going nowhere.

Jason Whitlock has a different view, putting more blame on Fisher.

Either way, the whole situation is a mess. I tend to think Fisher is right here, realizing that the players can only push this so far.

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