Tony Parker - Hall of Fame Basketball Player

Tony Parker
Born (1982)

Hall of Fame Induction: 2023

Card Shown: 2013-14 Panini
Flawless Autographs

Position: PG
Height: 6’2″

Point guard Tony Parker was only nineteen years old when San Antonio Spurs coach Gregg Popovich handed him the reins and made him responsible for directing a team that included superstars David Robinson and Tim Duncan. Tony made the best of the opportunity, leading the Spurs to four NBA titles and transforming himself into a Hall of Fame player along the way.

Awards and Honors

Tony was selected by the San Antonio Spurs with the 28th overall pick in the first round of the 2001 NBA Draft. He was named to the 2001-02 NBA All-Rookie team along with Pau Gasol. Gasol was named NBA Rookie of the Year but Parker also received a Rookie of the Year award from The Sporting News.
Parker won four NBA championships with the Spurs in 2003, 2005, 2007, and 2014. Duncan and Manu Ginobili were on all four championship teams while Robinson was on the first one in 2003 and Kawhi Leonard was on the last one in 2014. Parker was named the 2007 NBA Finals MVP.
Tony was a six-time NBA All-Star and was named to an All-NBA team four times.
On November 11, 2019, Parker had his number 9 jersey retired by the Spurs.
Tony became the owner of the French basketball team ASVEL, which at one point had super-prospect Victor Wembanyama on it. Wembanyama was the first overall selection by San Antonio in the 2023 draft and is poised to continue the successful French connection with the Spurs.

Points of Interest

Like many other international players of his era, Tony was inspired by the 1992 Dream Team and his favorite player growing up was Michael Jordan. He was ten years old when the Dream Team dominated the Olympics in Barcelona.
Parker was the first Frenchman to be inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, Massachusetts.
Parker, Ginobili, and Duncan formed a Big Three that played together longer and was perhaps more successful than any trio in NBA history.
At the time of his retirement, Tony had the second most points in EuroBasket history, trailing only Gasol.
Parker finished his eighteen-year NBA career with averages of 15.5 points, 2.7 rebounds, and 5.6 assists per game. He also shot 49.1% from the field.

Statistics

Tony Parker Statistics
provided by Basketball-Reference.com

Personal Autograph Interactions

At the 2020 Hall of Fame induction in May of 2021 my son Joshua and I were able to get our cards signed by Parker, who was there to support Duncan on his enshrinement. Mistakenly thinking that we did not have access to the event floor after the Awards Gala on Friday night, a new acquaintance graciously came over to us and took our cards to Tony to be signed. That new acquaintance was Toronto Raptors superfan Nav Bhatia who had offered to help us meet players if the opportunity arose. Nav was in Springfield to be the first basketball fan inducted into the Naismith Hall of Fame. The 2012-13 Panini Signatures Stars card that was signed is beautiful! Thank you Tony and Nav!

At the 2023 Hall of Fame Induction weekend, Parker signed for us at the official Panini autograph signing event. First I asked Tony to sign my 2016-17 Panini Grand Reserve card. Then, because the line had stalled and we were in front of Tony’s table for a little while, I asked Tony if he would sign the 2022-23 Panini Origins Nucleus card that features Parker, Duncan, and Ginobili. Tony graciously signed the second card for me, adding the first of the three signatures on our grail card that we were to get that weekend.

Thank you, Tony!