Basketball: Tony Parker will be inducted into the NBA Hall of Fame, a first for a Frenchman

Romain Rouillard 17:00 pm, March 29, 2023

For the basketball icon in France, the time of consecration is fast approaching. Tony Parker, emblematic point guard of San Antonio and the France team, will be inducted into the NBA Hall of Fame, reports ESPN journalist Adrian Wojnarowski, a great basketball specialist across the Atlantic. A great first for a French player. "TP" will sit at the same table as Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryan, Kareem Abdul-Jabar and other big names in the North American league he attended for 18 seasons. His induction will be made official Saturday in Houston during the Final Four of the college championship (NCAA).

Four NBA titles

Now 40 years old, Tony Parker leaves behind a flourishing record. A four-time NBA champion with the San Antonio Spurs (2003, 2005, 2007 and 2014), he became a figure in this Texas franchise in which he spent almost his entire career. Despite a modest size for a basketball player (1.88m), "TP" has made a name for himself across the Atlantic in this NBA yet studded with stars.

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In addition to his collective achievements, the native of Bruges, Belgium has also received a plethora of honours on an individual level. Selected six times to the NBA All-Star Game, an annual event bringing together the best players in the league, he received in 2007 the title of MVP (best player) of the NBA Finals, won by the Spurs. In 2013 and 2014, he was voted European basketball player of the year by FIBA. He is also one of the first non-American players to have triumphed in an NBA where locals have long reigned supreme.

A particularly fast and lively player, very adept at shooting from mid-range, he ends his career in 2019 after a final season with the Charlotte Hornets and has a very honourable record of 15.5 points and 5.6 assists average in the regular season. The only downside is his absence from the list of the 75 best players in NBA history, established on the occasion of the 75th anniversary of the North American league. Several observers had then cried injustice against one of the major players of Spurs in the twenty-first century.

Other big names rewarded

This time, all of his work is well and truly on the verge of being rewarded. Well, some would say. In Springfield, Massachusetts, where this Hall of Fame sits, he will push the doors of the pantheon of American basketball alongside his former coach Gregg Popovitch. The 74-year-old is currently leading his 26th season in San Antonio and has played a major role in the career of Tony Parker whom he has accompanied throughout his career in Texas. This 2023 vintage will also reward the German Dirk Nowitzki, star of the Dallas Mavericks, the Spaniard Pau Gasol, key player of the Los Angeles Lakers or Dwayne Wade, triple NBA champion with the Miami Heat in 2006, 2012 and 2013.