In the NBA, where talented players gather, not everyone can become a superstar, and small roles can still be known to fans by relying on their unique charm.
The player introduced today, his playing style blends the team and speed of European and American basketball pursuits, with sharp breakthroughs and basketball skills let him get the reputation of "French sports car", he is a member of the Spurs GDP combination, a total of four championships in his career, he was named one of the sexiest 50 men in the world with his handsome face, he has a beautiful ex-wife, he is: Tony Parker!
Choice of football and basketball
Tony Parker's father, a professional basketball player in his youth, had regarded playing for his hometown team, the Chicago Bulls, as his goal, but his mediocre physical fitness and basketball skills never made it possible for him to set foot on the NBA stage, and forced to make a living, Parker Sr. began to join the European League, playing for the Dutch, Belgian and French basketball leagues.
While playing in the Netherlands, the old Parker sparked a love spark with a professional model, and the two quickly entered the marriage hall and had a love crystal. Fast forward to 1982, when Parker Sr. was playing for the Belgian league, and Tony Parker was born in a cultural city like Bruges.
Two years later, Parker Sr. announced his retirement after winning the French League championship and began his career as a commentator there, and the family settled in romantic France, so Parker and his two younger brothers spent their childhood in Paris.
In France, basketball is less popular than 1/5 of football among the general public, and due to the environment, Tony Parker's first sport was football, which played the front with excellent speed and was mainly responsible for dominating the team's attack and goals.
The turning point in the story comes in the winter of 1995, when Parker Sr. returned to Chicago for a vacation with his family, during which time they watched a regular season game with the Bulls and were lucky enough to get a photo with Pippen and Jordan.
On this night, Tony Parker was completely conquered by the action of the "god of basketball" and the arena full of fierce confrontation, compared to the team cooperation on the football field, Parker Jr. preferred the feeling of individual singles points.
"Chicago is where it all starts, basketball is going to be my dream for the future, and I'm going to be the first European point guard to enter the NBA." —Tony Parker
Talented from an early age
When the elder Parker learned of his son's dream, in order to speed up his progress, he sent the 14-year-old Tony Parker to the French National Sports Academy for training, where the most talented players in France, through the training method of playing against professional players in advance, the 14-year-old Parker, who is less than 1.70 meters tall, has grown rapidly.
After a year of formal training, the 15-year-old Tony Parker has become a well-known talented athlete at the National Sports Academy with excellent ball quotient and extremely fast dribbling speed, where Parker Jr. met Boris Dior and Ronnie Turiaf, and the three of them improved and grew up together.
"I'm always half a beat faster than others on the basketball court, and in addition to learning new skills at a speed, I like to play with athletes who are older than myself because I know it will make me stronger." —Tony Parker
When Parker became the best of his peers, his father, who was very familiar with the American basketball training system, considered sending him to the United States for further study, and had contacted georgian technology, a famous basketball school. But Parker Jr. preferred the feeling of playing against older players in France, and the father eventually respected his son's decision to keep him abreast of his studies at the National Sports Academy.
Fast forward to 1999, the 17-year-old Parker signed the first professional contract of his career with Paris Athletic, officially becoming a professional basketball player. His outstanding performances in the league allowed him to be selected for the French Youth Championship and helped France win the first title of his career in the Final Victory over Croatia in the European Under-18 Basketball Championship.
In the summer of 2000, Tony Parker was invited to the Nike Basketball Summit Game and traveled thousands of miles to Indianapolis, where Parker scored 20 points, 4 rebounds and 7 assists, becoming the best player in the game.
Regarding Parker's basketball career, Grandpa Pierre Cyrence can not be ignored, he was a legend in European basketball, he helped his grandson do a lot of planning work, and warned him that he must not be half-hearted if he wants to succeed, and it is fundamental to do every detail of basketball to the extreme.
Growing up in a diverse family, Tony Parker's personality has both american frankness (father), Dutch casualness (mother), Belgian delicacy and French romance (growing environment), so that he can quickly adapt to the changing environment of the surrounding environment by changing his personality in the subsequent basketball career.
A twist and turn on the road to the NBA
Due to the shortage of basketball talent in France, since Parker entered the professional arena in 1999, he has been given many opportunities to represent the French youth team in the intercontinental competition, which gives professional NBA scouts the opportunity to know and know the player, and the San Antonio Spurs, which has always focused on the overseas player market, invited Parker to the team for the first time.
In Manager Popovich's perception, American and South American players are more technically solid and better understand the meaning of team basketball based on creativity, which is consistent with his concept of team cooperation. After the home team scouts touted Parker, the NBA coach became interested in the vacant seat from France.
On the eve of the 2001 draft, Parker participated in a joint trial held by the league, and Parker came to San Antonio after a long flight of 12 hours, and then came to the field non-stop to accept the Spurs' trial training.
Popovich tested the youngster's adaptability to the intensity of NBA games by sending Lance Blanco (a former NBA player) as the training assistant for the day, who limited Parker with crazy fouls and moves that didn't belong to the basketball category, resulting in Parker's first trial result being extremely bad.
Three weeks later, Parker received a notice of the Spurs' second trial, compared to the previous "rogue behavior", this trial returned to the normal rhythm of the game, the spurs assistant manager at the time Buford sensed Parker's potential, he was not only delicate, sharp and very calm, is a rare good seedling.
So Buford recommended Parker to Popovich, and in order to let the stubborn old man choose the youngster, he edited Parker's training video overnight, and finally persuaded Popovich, who was finally selected by the Spurs with the 28th pick in the 2001 draft.
On the day of the draft, Tony Parker was 19 years old and 40 days old, he set the record for the youngest player in spurs history, the first day of team training, Popovich set goals and plans for Parker, because the Spurs were still in the twin tower era at the time, Popovich prepared for the rain, he hoped that Parker found a balance between scoring and passing, and became a real organizational point guard.
Between 1997 and 2001, the Spurs, led by Tim Duncan and David Robinson, were a top team in the league for four consecutive seasons with a consistent winning percentage of more than 65%, and for the 19-year-old Parker, he did not expect to get too many opportunities to play, but more with a learning attitude to start his NBA career.
Gradually gain a foothold
A season before Parker joined the Spurs, the team was dominated by "Minor Generals" Avery Johnson and Steve Cole, and the guard line was more of a patchwork combination than the luxurious configuration of the team's interior line. Fortunately, Popovich is good at using his strengths and avoiding weaknesses, which allows the young general to survive in the Spurs by only breaking through and Kerr with only three points.
After the Spurs selected Tony Parker, the aging young general and Kerr were sent to the Nuggets, and there was a serious shortage of manpower in the team's backcourt, so Parker became the youngest starting point guard in the NBA at the age of 19 years and 173 days, a record that was only broken last year by Hornets point guard Ramello Ball, who raised the record by 10 days.
Under Popovich's almost harsh tuning, Parker quickly adapted to the intensity of NBA games, averaging 9.2 points and 4.3 assists per game in his rookie season and was selected to the league's best rookie team, although the Spurs eventually lost to the Lakers in the Western Conference semifinals, Parker's performance conquered the picky Popovich. With the summer of 2002, the Spurs signed back Ginobili, a european-trained Ginobili, the most familiar GDP combination for fans returned to the spot.
In the 02-03 season, the interior twin tower David Robinson took the initiative to retreat into the background and played the role of locker room leader, Duncan became the absolute tactical core of the team, the young Parker jumped to become the team's second scoring point, coupled with stephen Jackson, Bruce Bowen, Ginobili and other flankers to help, the team won the first record of 60 wins and 22 losses in the regular season, and successfully won the championship with four 4-2 scores in the playoffs.
After winning the championship, Parker repeatedly appeared on the cover of the magazine, because of his unique temperament and standard facial features, he was selected by People magazine as one of the 50 sexiest men in the world in 2003.
In the following seasons, as Parker's performance became more and more stable, Popovich became more and more tolerant of his disciples, not only reducing the reprimand after his mistakes, but also giving him more tactical arrangements and play space on the offensive end. After being pampered by the head coach, Parker replaced Duncan as the Spurs' top scorer in the 05-06 season.
Fast forward to the summer of 2007, the Spurs on the Finals stage to usher in the Cavaliers led by "Young Zhan", in this series of strength and experience difference, the Spurs easily won the championship 4-0, after the game Duncan hugged James when the words "the future is yours" became the most impressive moment for fans.
In these four finals, Parker averaged 24.5 points, 5 rebounds and 3.3 assists per game, successfully lifting the FMVP trophy in the finals, becoming the first foreign player to win this award.
Parker and Eva
In November 2004, the Spurs won a bland home victory, but after the game, there was an unusual guest in the players' locker room: Eva Longglia.
Invited by the team manager, the famous American movie star Eva parachuted into the Spurs locker room, because Eva had previously filmed in France, so she could have a simple French exchange with Parker, and it was this sudden encounter that made Eva inadvertently "steal" Parker's heart.
"She caught my attention, she gave me a very good first feeling, she was a very beautiful, sexy and smart girl." —Tony Parker
Before meeting Parker, Eva had a short marriage, she was also seven years older than Parker, but these factors did not affect the feelings of the golden boy at all, after determining the relationship affiliation, unlike Harden, Simmons and other stars, Parker still maintained a stable competitive state.
In addition to his excellence on the field, parker's versatility has released a music album called "Balance-Toi" in France, and quickly climbed to the top three on the French pop charts. At the same time, the American drama starring Eva ushered in an explosion, and two couples with equal talent and appearance were envied by countless fans.
In the summer of 2007, Parker and Eva registered as husband and wife at the Paris City Hall after receiving the FMVP, and then held a grand wedding ceremony at the Germanic Cathedral opposite the Louvre, and even invited the then mayor of Paris to serve as the wedding celebrant.
As a naturally romantic Frenchman, Parker gave Eva a diamond ring worth 500,000 yuan, a romantic fireworks party and a luxurious honeymoon room, according to statistics, the total investment of this wedding reached 5 million US dollars, while Parker's annual salary at that time was only 10 million US dollars.
This good story of the golden boy and the jade girl did not last long, and in the third year of marriage, the rumors of discord between the two sides were confirmed, and in early 2011, the two went through divorce procedures, ending this fairytale love.
After the peak, there is a moment of baton trading
Under the selfless blessing of Popovich's system and Duncan, the GDP combination became the signature of winning, and "the adversity of the sports car, the desperate demon knife slashed the devil" became the mantra of Spurs fans at that time. Parker, as the team's first offensive point, always used his sharp breakthrough to open the situation and lay the foundation for the Spurs, and duncan and Ginobili were never absent when the team needed to expand the score or chase points in adversity.
A battle at the peak of his career
On November 6, 2008, the Spurs challenged the Timberwolves, and after a tough double-overtime battle, the Spurs finally won by four points. In this game, Parker played 51 minutes, shot 22-of-36, and scored 55 points, 7 rebounds and 10 assists with a shooting rate of more than 50%, becoming the third-highest player in Spurs history in a single game, the first two being David Robinson 71 points and George Gwynn 63 points.
In the seasons when Parker was the core of the team's offense, the Spurs seemed to have suffered a spell in the playoffs, being played by the Dallas Mavericks in 2009 and "Black Eight" by the Grizzlies in 2011, and the problem of aging could not be solved, and fans generally believed that the peak of GDP had passed.
In the 2011 offseason, the Spurs made a deal with the Pacers, sending point guard George Hill, getting rookie Kawaii Leonard, and counting Danny Green, who joined the team three months ago, Popovich's team basketball has once again come back to life.
In the 12-13 season, the Spurs relied on selfless passing balls and flowing offense to return to the Finals after six seasons, their opponent was the Miami Heat, the first five big scores of the two sides were 3-2, the Spurs held the match point, but in the sixth game, Ray Allen won the championship that the Spurs had already pocketed, and Parker also lost the opportunity to get the second FMVP of his career.
For Parker, the experience of the 12-13 season is more like the epitome of his career, obviously leading the team to a good performance but with little attention, the media and fans seem to prefer a point guard with strong visual impact, just like Paul, Delong, Westbrook and Rose are always surrounded by traffic hotspots. But after seeing the above point guard playoffs, fans found that Parker had led the team to the Finals.
In the 13-14 season, the 32-year-old Parker made a comeback, relying on sharp breakthroughs to still break through the opponent's defense line, in the 2014 Finals, the two old opponents met again, compared to Parker's steady play, fans and the media prefer Leonard's defense of James. After a successful revenge, the defensive teenager began to rank among the top stars, and Parker also completed the team's core handover in the finals.
The last dance of his career
After the Spurs won the championship in 2014, although Parker can still contribute 10+5 data per game, the core of the team is still Leonard who is fully offensive and defensive. Fast forward to early 2018, in the Spurs' home game against the Pacers, Popovich placed De Chantai Murray in the starting lineup, and The 36-year-old Parker played as a non-injury substitute for the first time since his rookie season.
After this game, the elderly Parker never appeared on the Spurs' starting list again, and in the summer of 2018, Parker accepted an offer from French compatriot Batum to part ways with the Spurs, who had been playing for 17 years, to continue playing for his idol Michael Jordan's team, the Hornets.
After joining the Charlotte Hornets, Parker's single-game turn breakthrough was no longer sharp, coupled with the team's overall strength was not good, and the 18-19 season also became the first season of Parker's career that missed the playoffs. In June 2019, Tony Parker announced his retirement, and five months later, spurs retired Parker's No. 9 jersey at home, and GDP met again in another way.
Where did Tony Parker go?
In the two years since Parker retired, he divorced his second wife, Francine, and is currently in love with a tennis player ten years younger than himself, Parker is currently focusing most of his energy on investing money, the biggest investment is to become a minority shareholder of Ligue 1 team Lyon.