MANILA, Philippines – Last season wasn’t particularly memorable for San Antonio Spurs guard Tony Parker in the NBA. He averaged 11.9 points, the least since norming 9.2 as a rookie in 2001-02, and a 15-year career-low 27.5 minutes. Worse, the Spurs were bundled out of the playoffs by Oklahoma City in the second round.
But Parker, 34, brushed it off, vowing “we’ll be back.” His Spurs contract won’t expire until the end of the 2017-18 season and he hopes to play four or five more years before hanging up his sneakers to live in San Antonio. “It’s always tough to win a championship,” said Parker in a one-on-one interview. “Only one can win.” Parker said he has no idea what the Spurs will do to refortify but the word is Manu Ginobili will return for one more year, Pau Gasol is moving in as a free agent, Boris Diaw may be traded and Tim Duncan could retire.
At the moment, Parker isn’t focused on the NBA. His mind is set on bringing France to the Olympics in Rio. The other night, Parker was in “Peak” form, referring to the shoe that he endorses. He delivered 21 points, four rebounds and six assists as France beat the Philippines, 93-84, to get the campaign rolling for Les Bleus in the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament at the MOA Arena.
“I have two families,” said Parker. “I have my Spurs family during the year and I have my French team family during the summer. They’re two different competitions. It’s hard to compare. For San Antonio, we play for the city. I love being there, I want to live there after my career so I’ll always love it. And then playing for my country, obviously, I’m very proud to play for my country and during the (London) Olympics, it was an unbelievable feeling and that’s why I hope we win this tournament so I can finish my career with one more Olympics.”
Parker and Diaw, as expected, played beautiful music together against Gilas. If Parker is the heart of Les Bleus, Diaw is the soul as the captain. Diaw looked to facilitate more than score and finished with nine points, nine rebounds and six assists. “We have a beautiful story and I feel very lucky that we played in high school, for the French team and the Spurs,” said Parker. “We’ve been together forever. It’s very rare since we grew up together.”
Parker said while it’s his first trip to the Philippines, he’s aware how big basketball is in the country. “I think it’s great that they say basketball is the No. 1 sport in the Philippines,” he said. “I know about the Filipinos’ passion for basketball, how they love the game. It’s crazy and that’s awesome. The Olympic qualifier is a very tough tournament, a lot of great teams but only one can go to Rio. Everybody will try their best. As for the homecourt advantage, it’s big and it will help the Philippines, the energy in the arena from the fans. But we’re an experienced team, we know how to handle that.”
Parker said the homecourt advantage is what France hopes to gain in bidding to stage the 2024 Olympics. “I just want to try to help my country (win the bid),” he said. “I tried to help them in 2012, now we’ll do it again for 2024 so hopefully, this time, we’ll be the one who’s going to get it. We love sports over there and I think having the Olympics will change a lot of different stuff for the country.”
Parker said with the game evolving to a level where the small man is playing a role as major as a big man, there is room for anyone to make it to the NBA. His advice to aspiring players from the Philippines is to keep working hard. “The NBA is now a global game and you can come from anywhere to play in the league,” he said. In the recent NBA draft, 26 of the 60 rookie picks were foreign-born, including 14 of 30 first-rounders. Three of the last four first overall picks were foreigners. The numbers clearly backed up Parker’s point.
A former PBA player close to Parker’s heart is Spurs assistant coach Chip Engelland. “I love Chip,” he said. “He has helped me out a lot in my career, he’s made me more consistent in my jumpshot. I’m blessed to have him working with me.” Engelland has worked the last 11 years with the Spurs in coach Gregg Popovich’s staff. He played for the Northern Cement guest team in the PBA and starred for the Philippines’ San Miguel Corp. squad that beat the US in overtime for the Jones Cup crown in Taipei in 1985.
Parker said of the four championships he’s won with the Spurs, there isn’t a favorite that stands out. “Every time you win a championship, it’s unbelievable,” he said. “In 2003, I was only 21. In 2005, we won Game 7. In 2007, I got the MVP of the Finals. And in 2014, to come back and beat Miami the way we played, it was just an unbelievable feeling so all four of them were very special.” The Spurs beat New Jersey, 4-2, in 2003, Detroit, 4-3, in 2005, Cleveland, 4-0, in 2007 and Miami, 4-1, in 2014 to reward Parker with four rings.
Parker said he’s retiring from international competition after this year and his motivation is to end the long journey in Rio. He made his Olympic debut in 2012, averaging 10.7 points, as France finished sixth after bowing to Spain, 66-59, in the knockout quarterfinals.
In Manila, Parker is with his father Tony Sr. and brothers T. J. and Pierre. Before the qualifying tournament started, he appeared in a press conference for Peak, which is distributed in the Philippines by CEO Jay Gervasio’s Pro Star. Parker signed a three-year endorsement deal with Peak in 2013 and the contract was recently extended. Peak, a Chinese sports brand, has over 5,000 exclusive stores all over the world and is also endorsed by NBA players Matthew Dellavedova and Dwight Howard.