Indiana Pacers rookie and Montreal native Bennedict Mathurin has signed a multi-year shoe deal with Adidas. The official Twitter account welcomed him to the Adidas family with a video.
In the short video, Mathurin explained how he started playing basketball at age six and hoped to play in the NBA and one day win a championship.
“Don’t let anyone tell you you can’t do anything,” he said.
Mathurin seemed to confirm the deal on his own Twitter page by retweeting a Nick DePaula report.
While the details of the deal are currently unclear, Mathurin has been sporting Adidas shoes since his arrival in the NBA. Until today, he’s been wearing the Adidas Dame 8 shoes after previously wearing the Nike Kyrie Low 4 shoes during his stint in college.
In 29 games this season, Mathurin has averaged 17.8 points, 4.1 rebounds, and 1.6 assists per game while shooting 42 per cent from the field and 36 per cent from deep.
In an interview with The Athletic, Mathurin said that he wants to help drive kids in Montreal to be the best version of themselves.
“A lot of people play a sport because they have a talent, but I play for a different reason. I want to be one of the greatest players ever. I want to influence the kids (back in Montreal) to believe in themselves,” he said. “Where I grew up (in Montreal-Nord, a typically poorer area of Montreal), a lot of kids make bad decisions because they never got the chance to be around people who want the best for them. I want to give them motivation.”
