Analysts at Morgan Stanley are predicting that Under Armour's Steph Curry will sell $160 million worth of sneakers this year, besting out Nike's LeBron James at a projected $150 million.
Quartz reported on the predictions, which were sent out in a note to investors on March 3. The chart below breaks down the projections for top-selling signature lines of active NBA players.
Morgan Stanley analysts also wrote that, "UA’s signature Stephen Curry basketball shoe US business is already bigger than LeBron, Kobe and every other player except Michael Jordan."
The problem with Morgan Stanley's claims is they're based on data from Sports Scan Info, which doesn't include the direct-to-consumer sales of brands. It goes without saying that Nike's DTC apparatus is vastly larger than Under Armour's, so there's a much bigger chunk of LeBron sales missing from this picture than Curry sales. Direct-to-consumer sales come from brand-owned stores (think Niketown) and sites like nike.com and underarmour.com.
