Tony Parker has left San Antonio Spurs after 17 years. The former model franchise is thus getting another rift after last year’s Kawhi Leonard drama shook the organisation to its foundations. What does that mean and does the Parker exit finally herald the end of a golden era?
For more than 20 years, the Spurs have been a model of constancy. In 1997, San Antonio ranked Tim Duncan number one and established himself with the coach/GM team from Gregg Popovich and R.C Buford as the flagship franchise in US sports alongside the New England Patriots. The opponents went and came, it was the ShaKobe Lakers, the Detroit Pistons, the Mavs with Dirk Nowitzki, the Lakers with Kobe and Gasol or the super team around LeBron James from South Beach.
San Antonio has always been a potential contender, garnished with five titles between 1999 and 2014. In 1999 the Twin Towers from Duncan and Admiral David Robinson were there, four years later Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili were already there.
Parker, Manu and The Big Fundamental stood for individual class and consistency, 50 and more victories could always be planned over almost exactly two decades, an absolute novelty in the NBA. With Kawhi Leonard’s Draft Steal 2011, the Spurs also seemed to have perfectly prepared the transition for the next decade.
At the moment, however, nothing more points to that. Instead, it seems that the great era at the Alamo River is rapidly coming to an end. Duncan hung up his sneakers two years ago, Ginobili thinks about his career year after year. Leonard wants to be traded and now Parker signed for two years in Charlotte, with a team that has no ambition to be a contender.
Once again: Tony Parker signed with the Charlotte Hornets, hardly anyone would have thought that possible a few days ago. LeTony, who always stressed that he wanted to stay in San Antonio forever, will wear another jersey at the age of 36. In Buzz City, Parker meets Buddy Nic Batum and former Spurs assistant James Borrego.
It might seem as wrong to many fans as Patrick Ewing in Seattle or Hakeem Olajuwon in Toronto, to name just a few examples. “It was a hard decision. Tough three days. And it was hard to talk to Pop about it. But I had to move on,” Parker told The Undefeated.
Had to move on? This raises a few questions. The fact is that San Antonio would have liked to have renewed with the four-time 2007 Champion and Finals MVP. The Spurs might not have paid $10 million for two years, but Parker and the Spurs, it always seemed right, except for the 2003 trade when San Antonio was eager to get Jason Kidd.
Even until that Friday evening, when the decision was leaked, there was actually no sign of a departure. After the play-off against the Golden State Warriors in the first round, the Frenchman announced that he would also like to play for the Spurs next season and is satisfied that he is now the backup of young and talented Dejounte Murray.
Murray and All-Star LaMarcus Aldridge were one of the few bright spots of a messed up Spurs season, even though Popovich somehow managed to squeeze almost 50 victories out of this team as well. The focus was of course on Leonard’s drama, which intensified from week to week. Parker did not cut the best figure either when he let himself be carried away by the statement that his own injury was “100 times” worse than that of multiple DPoY.
If you believe some media reports, these harsh words hurt Leonard so much that he just isolated himself more from the team and didn’t show his face in the playoffs. You don’t have to believe that, but it gave Leonard’s camp a perfect alibi to “hide” her clients in New York, allegedly from the Spurs themselves.
“I have no problem with Kawhi Leonard. We never argued,” Parker tried to justify himself after his move. “When a journalist asked me if my injury was worse, I said yes because it was true. But that didn’t mean his injury wasn’t significant.”
“He took over the franchise and I gave him the torch willingly. It’s very sad that the media pick out a quote and make it look like I don’t want to play with him. He was the face of this franchise.”
Page 1: The departure of Parker
Page 2: Spurs at the crossroads: Mediocre or rebuild?