Netting success: Tissot signs basketball player Tony Parker as a Global Ambassador

Le Locle (Switzerland) / Paris (France), 21st September 2010: French professional basketball player Tony Parker is joining the high profile, multi-discipline Tissot ambassador team. This appointment adds a further highlight to the brand’s established passion for the fast-paced, precision-dependent sport. The captain of the French national basketball team and NBA’s San Antonio Spurs player scores highly on the international scene for his energy, apparent fearlessness and strong sense of social responsibility. As Official Timekeeper of FIBA (International Basketball Federation), Tissot visibly shares the new ambassador’s dedication to performance and looks forward to a winning partnership.

European roots cultivate international growth

Tony Parker has enjoyed an impressive career to date. His success with the French national team, which he led to a bronze medal in the 2005 European Championships, parallels an outstanding NBA track record. He has a trio of NBA Champion titles to his name from 2003, 2005 and 2007 and has been an NBA All Star on three occasions. In 2007 he was honoured as the MVP (Most Valuable Player) in the NBA finals, the first foreign-born player to do so. His European roots and international recognition mirror the positioning of the Tissot brand. At the contract signing, Tissot President François Thiébaud commented, «We are honoured to have Tony Parker in the international Tissot ambassador team. His natural talent and focused determination are deeply impressive and our partnership will help spread his inspirational qualities around the world. Who knows? Maybe on one of his trips home to Paris he may find time to pass by and visit our new store on the Champs-Elysées!». It was at this newly opened Tissot boutique that the signing took place today.

«Basketball, a destiny»

Tony Parker describes his involvement in basketball as «a destiny» as the son of Tony Parker Senior, an excellent defensive basketball player from Chicago, and older brother of two basketball-playing siblings, Terence and Pierre Parker. Kicking off his love of sport by playing soccer, Tony decided during his teens, in the 1990s, that his real love was basketball. The Tissot involvement in basketball also appears destined to grow at a rapid date. Already in 2009, the first year of collaboration with FIBA, the Swiss brand was entrusted with the timekeeping and data handling for EuroBasket in Poland. Building on its success in this role, Tissot this year has been honoured with the same responsible role at the 2010 FIBA World Championship for men in Turkey (August 28–September 12), and for women in the Czech Republic (September 23–October 3).