Last season Tony Parker was the focal point of a top-10 NBA offense and led his team to within a heartbeat of winning an NBA title. Then over the summer he was the unquestioned star of a French national team that won its first ever European Championship.
Now back in the NBA he is again leading a top 10 NBA offense in San Antonio – he is averaging 17.7 points on 53.2 percent shooting plus dishing out better than six assists a game — and the Spurs are 13-2 to start the season.
So yes, Tony Parker is feeling pretty good about himself right now...
Well, not right now. He is out Friday with a sore ankle and Cory Joseph will get the start.
We’re talking big picture. At age 31, Parker feels like he is at his peak and can keep playing at an elite level for a while, he told the San Antonio Express News.“That’s why I think I can play at a high level for another five or six years,” Parker said. “The way Pop is managing me, and the fact that I know I’m not going to play forever with the national team ... I feel I can play a long time at a high level.
“I don’t want to play a long time unless I can play well, so when I see what (37-year-old) Timmy (Duncan) has done and how Manu (Ginobili) is playing this year, it makes me confident I can do the same thing.”
Parker is a professional in how he takes care of his body, he said after the 2016 Olympics he is walking away from the French national team, plus his game is not based solely on his athleticism (although few are quicker on the dribble than he). He plays a smart game — nobody turns the corner better off the pick and roll — and that game is below the rim. His style can last for years.
The only question is where he will be doing it.
The Spurs have set up their payroll that this season and next the band is together — Parker, Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili, Kawhi Leonard and so on. But after that Duncan likely retires and the Spurs may start a rebuild around Leonard. If that is the case, does Parker re-sign in San Antonio? Or does he move to another contender for a few years?
That’s two years away. For now the Spurs are a force and Tony Parker is basically at the peak of his powers. And he will still be when his next contract comes up.
