Adidas and Anthony Edwards have taken aim at other NBA basketball players in advertisements before. With the 2024 Paris Olympic Games here, the brand has once again stirred things up, this time targeting the baller’s opponents on the global stage.
Team USA men’s basketball won its first matchup of the Games on Sunday, defeating Serbia 110-84. As the country’s best players were on the court, Adidas delivered a new video on social media promoting Edwards’ signature shoe, the AE 1.
The new spot featured Nick Maddox, Edwards’ friend who appeared in the October 2023 video promoting the AE1 while trash talking the debut signature shoes of LaMelo Ball (Puma), Ja Morant (Nike), Luka Doncic (Jordan Brand) and LeBron James (Nike).
In the new ad, Maddox was asked the question, “Who’s stopping Ant?” and then proceeded to name players from other countries (with their names censored). Although the names weren’t spelled out, most of them are obvious to diehard basketball fans, including Nikola Jokic, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Victor Wembanyama and Giannis Antetokounmpo.
“Nobody in the world stopping Ant. Believe That,” Adidas Basketball captioned the Instagram post.
Edwards had 11 points in 19 minutes coming off the bench against Serbia on Sunday. For its second game of the Olympics, Team USA men’s basketball will face South Sudan on July 31 at 3 p.m. ET.
Peter Verry is the Senior News and Features Editor for Athletic and Outdoor at Footwear News. He oversees coverage of the two fast-paced and ultracompetitive markets, which includes conducting in-depth interviews with industry leaders and writing stories on sneakers and outdoor shoes. He is a lifelong sneaker addict (and shares his newest purchases via @peterverry on Instagram) and spends most of his free time on a trail. He holds an M.A. in journalism from Hofstra University and can be reached at peter.verry@footwearnews.com.
