San Antonio Spurs: When Will Tony Parker Get The Credit He Deserves?
Much like the San Antonio Spurs as a team, All-Star point guard Tony Parker is severely underrated and under-appreciated by a large part of the basketball community. While Chris Paul rightly deserves recognition for being among the top point guards in the world, I feel Parker’s amazing season is almost going slightly unnoticed in comparison to Paul’s.
A severely underrated player, could Tony Parker win the MVP award this year? Photo Credit: Keith Allison, Flickr.com
There’s an argument to be had that Parker has outperformed the 2013 All-Star MVP this season. Parker’s Spurs sit top of the notoriously tough Western Conference and Parker has been the team’s best player–averaging 21.1 points and 7.6 assists per game. What makes his 21.1 points per game statistic freakishly good is the fact he’s doing it with a field goal percentage of .536. A guard that is averaging more than 20 points per game is shooting better than 50 percent from the field.
On top of that, Parker’s sheer brilliance has allowed coach Gregg Popovich the opportunity to rest the two other members of the big three (Manu Ginobili and Tim Duncan) for long stretches. Parker has made the supporting cast look brilliant at times and players like Kawhi Leonard have really improved around the Frenchman.
Kawhi Leonard has improved under the leadership of Tony Parker. (Photo: Mark Runyon, Basketball Schedule)
He just does the right things at the right time. Silky smooth handles, great passing, an improved 3-point stroke and an unstoppable floater make up Parker’s offensive arsenal. Sure, his handles are not on the level of Paul or Kyrie Irving, his passing is not as highlight-reel worthy as Rajon Rondo, but he is a bastion of consistency. Despite not possessing freakish athleticism, Parker is able to keep up and outperform many of the league’s top point guards. He also comes up in the clutch and his resumé speaks for itself –especially that Finals MVP against LeBron James’ Cleveland Cavaliers. He’s a Rolls Royce; someone that just oozes class on the court. A winner. Someone you want on your team when the game is on the line.
It begs the question: why does he continually get overlooked? He shouldn’t. If one point guard had to be in the MVP race it has to be Parker. Him being overlooked needs to stop and only one thing will end up giving him the recognition he deserves: another ring. Can he do it? Yes. San Antonio is now my pick to reach the NBA Finals and with Parker and Duncan playing brilliantly, they will provide the Miami Heat with some stern competition. For Parker’s sake, I hope he wins it. Maybe then will he be mentioned as the best point guard in the world.