Tony Parker is a famous person in the world of big basketball. Behind him are 18 seasons in the NBA and four league titles. As part of the French national team, the basketball player won “gold”, “silver” and two “bronzes” at the European Championships.
Biography: early years
William Anthony Parker was born on May 17, 1982 in Bruges, in the north-west of Belgium. Soon his family moved to France, where the childhood and youth of the future basketball player passed. He subsequently played for the national team of this country at international competitions.
From an early age, Tony dreamed of football. At that time, his plans did not include repeating the path of his father - a professional basketball player. Everything changed after watching a film about the legendary Michael Jordan. The picture impressed the young Tony so much that he became interested in basketball. Parker not only spent a lot of time on the court, but also with great interest studied the intricacies of basketball.
Tony in a short time achieved good results in the game. So, he became a key point guard in his school team. Soon, experts from basketball organizations drew attention to Tony. He studied at the National Institute of Sport and Physical Education in Paris. Soon, Parker was offered a contract by the Paris Basket Racing team.
Career
In 2000, Tony went to Indianapolis, where he took part in competitions held as part of the Nike Hoop tournament. There he had a chance to play with such titled basketball players as Omar Cook, Darius Miles and Zach Randolph. Parker played with them almost on equal terms, which attracted the attention of specialists.
The very next year, Tony was invited to an offseason training game by a team from the NBA San Antonio Spurs, which is based in Texas. Parker's first game as part of this club was not entirely successful. The coach did not even want Tony to finish the match. However, later he still gave him a chance, since he liked some of Tony's actions on the set.
In the same year, the team selected Parker in the first round of the NBA draft. He was declared under the 28th number. A year later, he was included in the NBA rookie team. For a novice basketball player, this is a great success.
For “San Antonio Spurs” Tony played for 17 seasons. With this team, Parker won all of his NBA titles. So, he four times became the champion of the NBA: in 2003, 2005, 2007 and 2017. In 2007, Tony was recognized as the most valuable player in the final part of the NBA.
Parker was repeatedly selected to the national team of all NBA stars. In 2007 and 2013 he was recognized as the best European basketball player. In 2012, Tony won the NBA Basketball Competition.
For the national team of France, Tony began to speak with 15 years. So, in 1997, he played at the European Championship among juniors. Then the French team was only fourth. For the first time, he won the championship title in the national team in 2000. Then the French became European champions. At this tournament, Tony scored 14.4 points and gave 2.5 assists on average per match. Two years later, he already scored 25.8 points and gave 6.8 assists. In 2003, Tony became the captain of the national team.
As part of the French team, Parker has repeatedly performed at the Eurobasket. So, in 2013 he was recognized as the most valuable player in this tournament. In the same year, he again became the champion of Europe.
In an interview, Parker noted that he dreams of protecting the colors of “San Antonio Spurs” for 20 seasons. However, before the dream he only had three seasons. In 2018, Parker moved to Charlotte Hornets. He explained his unexpected transition with a desire to try himself in something new. That's just enough for one season. In 2019, Parker announced his retirement from big basketball. On his page on the social network, he noted that he did it for the sake of the family.
In parallel with his sports career, Tony tried himself in the cinema. So, in 2008, he starred in the French comedy "Asterix at the Olympics", in which he played the role of a basketball player.
Tony tried himself in business. In 2012, he and his brothers became a co-owner of a nightclub. Soon, Parker acquired shares of the Aswell basketball club from French Lyon. In 2017, Tony bought another basketball club, but now the women's one is Lyon.
