- Under Armour signed WNBA center Li Yueru on July 30, 2026, making her the brand's first-ever female Chinese professional basketball athlete.
- The partnership focuses on youth basketball development, the advancement of women's sports, and community engagement across China and globally.
- Li brings a 2022 FIBA Women's World Cup silver medal and a 19th Asian Games title to the deal, along with experience in the WNBA, Europe's top leagues, and Unrivaled.
- She currently plays center for the Dallas Wings and has previously carried sponsorship ties to Chinese sportswear labels.
Under Armour has signed Li Yueru, making the Dallas Wings center the brand’s first-ever female Chinese professional basketball athlete. The deal was announced July 30, 2026.
Li, a 6-foot-7 center born in Changzhi, China, has built a career spanning China’s WCBA, Turkey’s top domestic leagues, and the WNBA. Her résumé includes a silver medal at the 2022 FIBA Women’s Basketball World Cup and a championship title at the 19th Asian Games.
Drafted 35th overall by the Atlanta Dream in 2019, she opted to keep developing in China before eventually reaching the WNBA, where she’s played for the Chicago Sky, Los Angeles Sparks, and Seattle Storm before the Dallas Wings acquired her in a June 2025 trade.
Under the new partnership, Li will work with Under Armour on brand initiatives across China and international markets, with youth basketball development, women’s sports, and community engagement named as focus areas.
“Basketball has always been a source of joy, passion and motivation,” Li said in the announcement, adding that Under Armour’s “commitment to performance” aligns with her own values as an athlete.
Terms were not disclosed. This is Li’s most prominent Western endorsement to date; she has also carried past sponsorship ties to Chinese sportswear labels over the course of her career.
The signing lands in an unusually busy stretch for Under Armour’s roster. Just a week earlier, the brand named “Heated Rivalry” actor François Arnaud its newest global brand ambassador for a HeatGear-focused campaign, and days before that, footballers Ferran Torres, Fermín López and Ollie Watkins fronted the brand’s “Rest Less” off-season campaign.
On the very same day as Li’s signing, Under Armour also unveiled K-pop group BOYNEXTDOOR as global brand ambassador for its Asia-Pacific “Commit” campaign.
Takeaways
Under Armour has spent much of 2026 chasing cultural reach as hard as athletic pedigree, and Li’s signing shows that strategy now extends to women’s basketball in China specifically, not just entertainment crossovers.
Landing a player with Olympic and World Cup-level credentials gives the brand a credible on-court story, not just a marketing face, in a market where Nike and Chinese labels like Anta and Li-Ning already dominate athlete endorsements.
Does this signal Under Armour making a real long-term push into Chinese women’s basketball, or is it a one-off symbolic hire? Could this open the door for more Under Armour deals with Chinese WNBA and Unrivaled players? Does Li’s global visibility change how she’s used back home versus in the U.S. market?
