Four-time NBA champion, Tony Parker received Monday night honors from the San Antonio Spurs franchise, his training for 18 years, from 2001 to 2018. Acclaimed by a hall he saw him rise to the rank of outstanding figure of the North American league, the French basketball player was surrounded by several legends of the Texan club and friends like Nicolas Batum.

REPORTAGE

This is the first time such an honor is made to a French player in the NBA: Monday night, the jersey of Tony Parker has been permanently withdrawn by the San Antonio Spurs, his training for 18 years, his draft (the distribution young players in the NBA) in 2001 when he left for the Charlotte Hornets for a season before retirement, in 2018-2019. No player present or future of the Texas franchise will now be able to wear the number 9 emblematic quadruple champion NBA (2003, 2005, 2007, 2014).

Family, teammates, friends

"Thanks, San Antonio, it's good to be at home, it's always going to be home for me, it's very moving," said the Frenchman, who said he wanted his shirt off. November 11 marking the end of the First World War.

Emotion.

2001 - 2018 # ⃣9⃣ # TonyParker | # MerciTonypic.twitter.com / a8BotZJwRG

- NBA France (@NBAFRANCE) November 12, 2019

For the occasion, Tony Parker was (very) well surrounded: there was of course his wife, his two children, but also his former coach and Spurs tutelary figure Gregg Popovich and his former teammates David Robinson, Bruce Bowen, Tim Duncan , Manu Ginobili, whose jerseys have already been removed from the ceiling of the Texas Room.

There were also his friends, like Nicolas Batum. "It's his night, it's deserved," acknowledged the winger of the Charlotte Hornets, one of the most prominent French in the NBA. "It's an honor to have his jersey removed from a historic franchise like the San Antonio Spurs, and he's done things that are not impossible, but very hard to match."

The homage of Henry, Mbappé and Zidane

During the tribute paid by the San Antonio Spurs, three French sports figures have made the career of the tricolor leader, now president of the Rhone club of Asvel: Thierry Henry, Kylian Mbappé and Zinédine Zidane.

⚽️ xx @ThierryHenry & @KMbappe congratulate @tonyparker! # MerciTonypic.twitter.com / PQQ9fEYEuU

- NBA France (@NBAFRANCE) November 12, 2019

For Nicolas Batum, Tony Parker "made the sport even more popular in France" in the 2000s. "He opened a path and a spirit to young French basketball players, including me, by doing extraordinary things in the NBA." Blues European champions in 2013, with obviously the leader of the Spurs with the baton.