adidas signs Superstar Tim Duncan
adidas announced today that they have signed a multi-year partnership with Tim Duncan, the reigning NBA Most Valuable Player. A superstar both on and off the court, Tim will join the adidas family as of the 2003 NBA All-Star Weekend. Duncan’s attorney Lon Babby of Williams & Connolly of Washington D.C., and Erich Stamminger, Member of the Executive Board of adidas-Salomon AG responsible for Global Marketing, jointly announced the deal today.
The number one pick in the 1997 NBA draft by the San Antonio Spurs, Tim was rookie of the year in 1998, an NBA champion in 1999, all-NBA first team every year (only the seventh player in NBA history to accomplish that feat), all-defensive first team the last four years and a six-time NBA All-Star. A graduate of Wake Forest University, Duncan finished second in NCAA history with 481 blocked shots and third all-time in the Atlantic Coast Conference with 1,570 rebounds. He also won the Naismith and Wooden Awards and was the consensus national college basketball player of the year in his senior year.
“I am proud to be an ambassador for adidas and to help play a role in the continued success of the company,” said Duncan. “With our shared commitment to excellence both on the court and in the community, I am confident that this partnership will enable me to succeed on and off the court. I am very excited to be a part of the adidas family.”
“Tim is delighted that adidas recognizes his tremendous value to the brand,” said Babby. “Tim has already made a great mark on the NBA landscape. His goal is to work with adidas to help them continue to make their mark in basketball as well as maximize their goals for the brand. Tim is particularly excited about the very significant commitment that adidas has made to support the charitable work of his Foundation.”
A force at both ends of the court, Tim was voted by the fans to start the 2003 All-Star Game, his fifth All-Star Game appearance. Entering this season, Tim has averaged 22.8 points per game (ppg) (5th among active players), 12.2 rebounds per game (rpg) (leader among active players), 3.1 assists per game (apg) and 2.4 blocked shots per game (bspg) (7th among active players). So far this season, Tim has topped his career average in each of the four categories, with 23.3 ppg (6th), 12.9 rpg (2nd), 3.9 apg and 3.0 bspg (league leader).
Tim’s impact and accomplishments are not limited to his on-court contributions. He was named one of the “Good Guys” in sports by the Sporting News in both 2001 and 2002. Together with his wife Amy, he created the Tim Duncan Foundation in November 2001, which funds non-profit organizations in the areas of education, health awareness and research, youth sports and recreation. He has raised already more than $350,000 over the last two years to help fight breast and prostate cancer. A native of the U.S. Virgin Islands, Tim graduated from Wake Forest University with a degree in psychology in 1997.
“We are very excited about this partnership,” stated Stamminger. “Tim will play a key role in our mission to be the leading sports brand in the world. His on-court performance is indisputable, and his off-court commitment is renowned throughout the sporting world. Tim not only understands the importance of being a role model, he embraces the idea. Therefore, Tim Duncan is a perfect ambassador for our brand – he is an adidas superstar.”