An additional consecration. Hailed by his peers to the point of seeing his name included in the pantheon of his sport, a first for a French basketball player, Tony Parker, now 40 years old, has written a new line of his wonderful basketball career.
This date is in addition to two others that say everything about its importance. The first was 2003, when he was the first Frenchman to pass on his finger the famous NBA championship ring, the most coveted trophy in his sport, with the San Antonio Spurs. Three more would follow (2005, 2007, 2014), as well as a "MVP" title of the finals in 2007 and six selections for the "All Star Game".
The other is 2013, when Les Bleus won their first major international competition, the Euro. It was the reward for an exemplary loyalty to the tricolor jersey for which he never ceased to proclaim his love.
From this coronation, we will especially remember the victory in the semi-finals against the Spanish rivals, defeated by the Blues at the price of a fantastic comeback. With Tony Parker and his teammates leading 34-20 at half-time, the point guard spoke in the dressing room and became a guide: "I don't care what happens in the second half, even if we lose, at least we play with our pride. (...) I'd rather lose by fighting," he thunders.
Crucial in the conquest of the title, this speech was "the greatest moment of (his) career in the team of France", judged later, in a documentary of Canal +, this Frenchman by choice.
Born in Bruges (Belgium) to an American basketball player father and a Dutch mother, who arrived as an infant in Denain (North), he spent his childhood near Rouen (Northwest) and opted for French nationality at the age of fifteen.
A workaholic
His influence at Les Bleus has been enormous. Between his first selection, in 2000, and his last sixteen years later in the quarterfinals of the Rio Games, the brilliant playmaker led a dozen campaigns, chaining without complaining the Olympiads and the Euros with gruelling American seasons (more than a hundred matches). He has 181 caps (for 2,741 points, an average of more than 15 per game) during which he was at the same time the leader, the inspiration, the organizer and the finisher of the team.
If he was not the very first Frenchman in the NBA when he arrived in Texas in 2001, at the age of 19, it is he who served as a model for the many compatriots who tried the adventure after him: Nicolas Batum, Evan Fournier and Rudy Gobert in particular.
France's Tony Parker during the match against Spain in Rio de Janeiro on August 17, 2016 at the Olympics © Mark RALSTON / AFP/Archives
Under the leadership of his mentor, coach Gregg Popovich, Parker played a key role, alongside Argentina's Manu Ginobili and American Tim Duncan, in the trajectory of the Spurs, which in the 2000s became one of the NBA's leading franchises. This trio is one of the most dominant in the history of the North American league.
So it's only fair to see Parker, who ended his playing career in 2019 after an anecdotal final season with the Charlotte Hornets, join Duncan and Ginobili in the Hall of Fame.
Parker dazzled above all with his exceptional velocity ball in hand, his lightning starts and his tightrope walkers in the middle of defenses, often concluded by his famous "teardrop", a bell shot essential to this player of 1.88 m.
Always anxious to progress, Parker then improved in the management of the game, then he acquired a more reliable shot at long distance with the help of a "shot doctor" (a special advisor on shooting technique), at the cost of rigorous work: never less than 200 shots a day.
Sportsman and businessman
A businessman, Parker prided himself on being so even before the end of his career. He has become one of the richest French sportsmen thanks to his salary at the Spurs which reached $ 12 million per season during his great years - far from the sums received by the current stars of the league - and many advertising contracts.
Since his retirement from sport, it is to these economic activities that he has since devoted a large part of his time, as well as to the presidency of Asvel, the club of Villeurbanne, which has been competing in the Euroleague since 2019 and has won the last three France championships.
Tony Parker owner of Villeurbanne after the victory in Strasbourg on June 14, 2016 © PATRICK HERTZOG / AFP/Archives
Rap singer in his spare time, actor and film producer, living at the time of his sporting glory in San Antonio in a luxurious villa with an indoor basketball court, a tennis court, a video games room ... and a superb wine cellar, Parker was also a "people". His sumptuous marriage in a castle southeast of Paris, then his divorce after two years with the American actress Eva Longoria made the happiness of the newspapers.
© 2023 AFP