Adidas’ Global GM of Basketball, Eric Wise, is leaving the No. 2 basketball brand.
“After 8 1/2 years with this iconic brand, it’s time for me to step to my next chapter,” Wise shared in a LinkedIn post on Tuesday, February 18. “I’m beyond grateful for the experiences, the challenges and, most importantly, the people who have made this journey so special. Adidas isn’t just a company — it’s a global culture, a community and a place where creativity and innovation push boundaries every day.”
Wise said he was grateful for the opportunity with the brand and the ability to touch multiple facets of the company, from merchandising with retail partners to helping grow Adidas’ U.S. Originals business to leading global product teams.
“Each role I’ve held has shaped my recent position as general manager of Adidas Global Basketball, where I dedicated the last four years to ushering the brand and the category into a new era while building a team that reflects the diversity of our consumers,” Wise continued.
Wise said he was proud of re-launching Adidas’ basketball category while expanding partnerships, establishing a strong presence in Los Angeles and achieving strong sales gains.
“I’ve learned so much here — the power of collaboration, the importance of staying true to a brand’s DNA while pushing for the future and how sport, style and purpose intersect in ways that inspire millions around the world,” Wise said.
Wise joined Adidas in 2016 as director of merchandising for Foot, Inc. Over the next five years, he worked through several positions, culminating in his ascension to global VP of product working out of Adidas’ Portland, OR headquarters. He moved to Los Angeles in 2021 to head up a new office for Adidas focused on basketball.
“Basketball is an important area for us, and we’re focused on growing that part of our business,” the company said in a statement attained by the Portland Business Journal in early 2021 when the company announced moving the basketball business to Los Angeles. “We’ve merged our Lifestyle and Performance functions within our basketball business to form one Adidas Basketball team. This will help us react more quickly to the needs of our basketball consumers globally.”
Adidas said then that the move to LA was to “empower its employees to make decisions faster and foster even more collaboration and creativity.”
Adidas’ basketball division in LA was initially led by Jerry Lorenzo, the founder of the Fear of God streetwear brand, who was appointed Adidas’ global head of basketball in December 2020. Wise was appointed global GM for the division in March 2021.
An Adidas spokesperson told Business Insider that combining its Lifestyle and Performance business functions will help Adidas “form one Adidas basketball team” in its go-to-market approach to the sport. The spokesperson described Los Angeles as a “key strategic city where basketball is ingrained in the culture.”
Before joining Adidas, Wise was at Villa, the Philadelphia-based urban specialty retailer now part of the JD Sports Fashion family under the DTLR brand.
Images courtesy Adidas and Eric Wise/LinkedIn
