# Tony Parker is better than you think he is



## Basel (Mar 31, 2005)

> I often lose track of time. With Tony Parker, I've lost track of an entire career. Has he really been in the league for thirteen years? He and I are only a year apart in age, but suddenly it’s like Tony is ten years my senior. As with all great tragedies, the steady invisibility of Tony's greatness comes with its share of irony. It’s somehow axiomatic that, of all the Spurs, Parker is most prone to self-promotion. He married (and divorced) an actress. He's got rap songs. He's part-owner of a professional basketball club. Throughout his career, he's been rumored to be eyeing New York or the Lakers as possible destinations in free agency. As the speediest Spur for nearly the past dozen years, it just seemed preordained that Tony would be the first man out of Texas if things ever started going south.
> 
> Based on that faulty logic, it was easy to call for trading Tony in the aftermath of more recent Spurs playoff losses. After all, if he was going to leave anyway and play the Frodo who sets off on his own path and breaks up the Big Three's beautiful Fellowship, wouldn't it make sense to recoup the loss? Those thoughts became like mercury in the bloodstream, poisoning me against the Spurs' most reliable star without my even realizing it. Though the Spurs have recovered from their seven year winter, it's as easy as ever to overlook Tony in favor of tossing bouquets at Tim, Pop, and young Kawhi Leonard. Even Manu has stayed in the limelight thanks to his sleeper hit summertime medical drama (I'm calling it The Argentine Diagnosis.) Meanwhile, years after I wrongly soured on the man from the land of wine and cheese, I keep forgetting to go back and correct my view of him. (If you think me disloyal, that's fine; just ask yourself this question: Minnesota calls and offers Kevin Love for Tony. What are you telling R.C. Buford?)
> 
> ...


http://www.poundingtherock.com/2014/7/25/5928559/tony-parker-better-than-you-think


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