Tony Parker surprisingly decided on Friday to leave San Antonio Spurs after 17 years. The Frenchman joined the Charlotte Hornets instead.
Parker will make a total of $10 million on the Hornets over the next two years. The nuggets are also said to have been interested, but Parker will probably have more game shares in Charlotte. The Spurs would also have liked to keep the 36-year-old Free Agent as a mentor.
Parker, who won four titles with the Spurs and became final MVP in 2007, finally decided to leave his only NBA franchise and look for a new adventure. “It was a hard decision. Tough three days. And it was hard to talk to Pop[Spurs coach Gregg Popovich, the editor] about it. But I had to move on,” Parker told The Undefeated.
“It was a very emotional conversation with Pop and[Spurs-GM] R.C. Buford. I will always love San Antonio,” Parker continued. “I’ll always be a spur. My family and my house are here. But I’m looking forward to playing for my idol MJ[Hornets owner Michael Jordan], coach J.B.[James Borrego], for whom I played in San Antonio, and my little brother Nicolas Batum.”
The change will make Parker the third NBA player in history to join the team after at least 17 years with a franchise. The other two were Karl Malone (18 years in Utah) and Hakeem Olajuwon (17 years in Houston).
Spurs coach Popovich published the following statement on Friday: “It is hard to put into words how important Tony Parker has been for this franchise over the last two decades. From his first game in 2001 at the age of 19, TP has impressed and inspired us – day after day, game after game, season after season – with his passion and will. “We are grateful to Tony for 17 years of great memories.”
Parker did not directly explain why he was leaving the Spurs. During the season there was much speculation that Parker in particular was annoyed by the behavior of Kawhi Leonard, who had suspended almost the entire season despite medical clearance.
One of the reasons for this was that Parker described his own injury, from which he came back faster than expected, as “100 times worse” than that of Leonard. Parker tried to put this into context again on Friday.
“I have no problem with Kawhi Leonard. We never argued,” Parker said. “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,” Parker continued about Leonard, who reportedly demanded a trade. “It’s very sad that the media picks out a quote and makes it look like I don’t want to play with him. He was the face of this franchise.”
Parker played a total of 1,198 Regular Season and 226 playoff games throughout his career. His career point average is 15.8 points.
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