Career: INSEP (France-Pro A -1997-99), Paris BR (France-Pro A, 1999-2001), San Antonio Spurs (NBA, 2001-…). Drafted in the first round of the 2001 NBA draft (#28) by the San Antonio Spurs.

Tony Parker is only 23 but already has two NBA Championship rings on his fingers and a 66 million dollar contract. But for this kid, winning the EuroBasket while playing with long time friends Boris Diaw and Mike Pietrus seems to mean even more…

The kid is still very refreshing to be around. Forget about his enormous contract and the two NBA titles he already won, just look at him playing around with friends, and you will still be under the impression that Tony Parker remains close to the kid that won the 2000 U18 European Championship 2000 with Diaw, Pietrus and (almost) new Laker Ronny Turiaf. Since then, however, he has come a pretty long way. Born in Bruges, Belgium, this son of an “average” US player (Tony Parker Sr) that played in Belgium, the Netherlands and France, who later took French Nationality, and of a former Dutch model, Pamela Firestone, Tony spent almost all of his childhood in North-Western France. At 15, Parker went to INSEP, France’s sports development institute where he quickly became dominant in a tough Division 3 league (22.1 ppg in 1998-99). He considered going to Georgia Tech but finally preferred, at 17, signing with Paris Basket Racing. Parker had limited playing time for his first season with Sydney’s silver medal winner, Laurent Sciarra, receiving the lion’s share of the minutes at the point guard position. After winning the U18 European title with France in the summer of 2000 (14.4 ppg but over 22 in the quarterfinals and after!), Tony had a solid season with Paris (14.7 pts, 6.9 as). After he blossomed in the 2000 Nike Hoop Summit (20 pts), TP entered the 2001 NBA draft knowing it was going to be one short on talented point guards. Picked by the Spurs to be Antonio Daniels’ back-up, coach “Pop” offered him a starting job as soon as the 5th game of that 2001-02 season. Was the first European guard to be named in the All-Rookie First team. Improved his stats in his second season (from 9.2 to 15.5 ppg) and ended-up winning the NBA title 2003.

Unstoppable driving to the basket, Tony still needs to develop a mid-range pull-up shot and to develop into a 3-point threat to become an All-Star.

However, he has improved controlling the pace of the game after the Spurs sent him a message by trying to recruit Jason Kidd right after the 2003 campaign. Was the second leading scorer behind Duncan (16.6 pts) last season before the playoffs, but the rise of Manu Ginobili slightly overshadowed his contribution to another NBA title. Very involved with his national team, he came out very frustrated after EuroBasket 2003, losing the ball on the last possession against Lithuania in the semi-final and feeling a bit lonely during the bronze medal game when guys like Abdul-Wahad and Moïso looked like they weren’t interested in third place… With the addition of Rigeaudeau, Tony wants nothing other than a podium finish in Belgrade. Has two younger brothers in basketball: Terence, nick-named “TJ”, is just coming out of Northwestern University and will play for Paris BR next season, while Pierre will be a sophomore in Loyola-Chicago.