As reported by ESPN journalist Adrian Wojnarowski, who is particularly well informed on NBA news, the French basketball player will enter the Hall of Fame of the North American league. For the very first time, a tricolor player will therefore join the pantheon of basketball across the Atlantic.
For the basketball icon in France, the hour of consecration is fast approaching. Tony Parker, emblematic leader of San Antonio and the France team, will enter 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 therefore sit at the same table as Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryan, Kareem Abdul-Jabar and other big names in the North American league that he has attended for 18 seasons. His induction will be formalized on Saturday in Houston during the Final Four of the university championship (NCAA).
ESPN Sources: Dwyane Wade, Dirk Nowitzki, Pau Gasol, Tony Parker, Becky Hammon and Gregg Popovich are among the finalists who’ve been elected into Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame class of 2023. Formal announcement will come at Final Four in Houston this weekend .
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) March 29, 2023
Four NBA titles
Today aged 40, Tony Parker leaves behind him a flourishing record. Four-time NBA champion with the San Antonio Spurs (2003, 2005, 2007 and 2014), he has become a figure in this Texas franchise in which he has 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, however studded with stars.
In addition to his collective accomplishments, the native of Bruges in Belgium has also received a plethora of honors on an individual level. Selected six times for the NBA All-Star Game, an annual event bringing together the best players of the season, he received the title of MVP (best player) in the NBA Finals in 2007, won by the Spurs. In 2013 and 2014, he was voted best 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 the locals have long reigned supreme.
A particularly fast and lively player, very skilful at mid-range shooting, he put an end to his career in 2019 after a final season in the jersey of the Charlotte Hornets. After almost two decades in the league, he has a very honorable record of 15.5 points and 5.6 assists on average in the regular season. The only downside: his absence from the list of the 75 best players in NBA history, established in October 2021. Several observers then cried foul.
Other big names rewarded
This time, all of his work is well and truly about to be rewarded. Well, some would say. In Springfield, Massachusetts, where this Hall of Fame sits, he will push the doors of the American basketball pantheon alongside his former coach Gregg Popovitch, also an award-winning player. The 74-year-old technician is currently in his 26th season in San Antonio and has played a major role in the rise of Tony Parker, whom he has accompanied throughout his career in Texas. This 2023 vintage will also reward the German Dirk Nowitzki, former glory of the Dallas Mavericks, the Spaniard Pau Gasol, essential player of the Los Angeles Lakers between 2007 and 2014 or Dwayne Wade, triple NBA champion with the Miami Heat in 2006 , 2012 and 2013.
Source: Europe1
Brayden White, a veteran sports writer at Global Happening, brings his wealth of knowledge and expertise to the sports section. With over a decade of experience, he is committed to delivering high-quality coverage of the latest games and events.
