NBA Power Rankings: 30 Greatest Point Guards of All-Time
By Shane Young
23. Tony Parker
2001 – present
Franchises: San Antonio Spurs
Career totals: 16,270 points, 5,703 assists, 2,823 rebounds, 880 steals, 2,391 turnovers (and counting)
Career averages: 17.1 points, 6.0 assists, 3.0 rebounds, 0.9 steals, 2.5 turnovers
Shooting: 49.5 percent field goals, 32.1 percent 3-pointers, 75.2 percent free throws
Accolades: 4x NBA Champion, 1x Finals MVP, 6x NBA All-Star, 3x All-NBA Second Team, NBA All-Rookie First Team
One of the last current players on the list would be Tony Parker, someone that takes a lot of heat for absolutely nothing.
“He’s just a product of Gregg Popovich’s system.”
Bologna.
Under no circumstance should a player be negatively viewed because he has a load of greatness around him. Parker has led the backcourt for the Spurs since 2002-03. He entered the league in 2001-02 and started 72 games, but didn’t become a significant part of the offense until the next year.
He learned quickly that the NBA was a completely different world compared to France, but he’s one of those international players that succeeded when making the switch.
The 2007 NBA Finals, against LeBron James and the Cavaliers, was his most special moment. In the four-game sweep, Parker was named Finals MVP with a fantastic 24.5 points, 3.3 assists, five rebounds, and three turnovers per game average. What made him the most valuable talent was that he shot 56.8 percent for the series, and 57.1 percent from long range. Mike Brown couldn’t stop him if he wanted to.
Since then, Parker has led the charge to two more NBA Finals, splitting the 2013 and 2014 series with LeBron and the Miami Heat.
Perhaps we’ll remember nothing more than his miraculous shots down the stretch of the 2013 Finals Games 1 & 6. Winning Game 1 of that series, Parker hit a few impossible shots near the end of the shot clock that just left you stunned. In Game 6, the tragic loss, he still was able to dazzle LeBron with his step-back jumper from long range that kept the game going.
Next: Mr. Big Shot