NBA
Tony Parker on Gregg Popovich Ahead of HOF Ceremony: ‘I Can’t Get Rid of Him’
Mike Thomas spent 23 years on staff and 16 years as the sports editor at The Herald News in Fall River, Mass., before ing Sportscasting in 2020. Mike has a deep knowledge of and ion for the NFL and NBA, and he excels at interviewing sports celebrities to find out their Super Bowl picks. A New England Newspaper and Press Association award-winning columnist and an avid sports memorabilia collector, Mike enjoys keeping up with all the sports news and the works of former Sports Illustrated columnist Rick Reilly. You can find more of Mike's work on Muck Rack.
Get to know Mike Thomas betterPublished12 Aug 2023
Saturday’s Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame induction ceremony will be sort of a reunion for the current head coach Gregg Popovich, the Spurs also have strong connections to two other inductees — Pau Gasol and Becky Hammon — as part of the 2023 class.
Parker, who played 17 of his 18 NBA seasons with the Spurs, recently joked about being in the same class as his former coach, saying, “I can’t get rid of him.”
Tony Parker follows fellow Spurs teammates into the Hall
Tony Parker was a late first-round pick in 2001 by the Spurs and made an immediate impact. The 6-foot-2 point guard from played nearly 30 minutes a game as a rookie, making All-Rookie, but blossomed in his second season. As an NBA sophomore, Parker averaged 15.5 points and 5.3 assists and helped lead the way to a Spurs championship.
In the 2005-06 season, with two championships already under his belt, he made the first of his six All-Star appearances. That seasn, he put up 18.9 points and 5.8 assists per game.
Parker’s best statistical season came during the 2008-09 season when he averaged a career-high 22.0 points while dishing out 6.9 assists per game. He averaged 15.8 points and 5.7 assists in his 17 seasons in San Antonio. He also won four championships and was MVP of the 2007 NBA Finals.
Parker follows teammates Tim Duncan (2021) and Manu Ginobili (2022) into the Hall.
Although Hammon is being inducted as a member of the WNBA, she was an assistant coach with the Spurs under Popovich. Gasol spent most of his career with the Memphis Grizzlies and Los Angeles Lakers, he did play 168 games over three seasons with the Spurs.
Parker can’t shake Popovich
Parker and Popovich made their names with the Spurs, combining for 45 years with the team. Popovich said his first impression of the young point guard was ugly.
“He came into the gym for a workout when he was 19,” Popovich said, per NBA.com. “I hated him. Said he’s a weenie. He’s not aggressive. Doesn’t like .”
A second workout changed the coach’s mind.
“I gave him the ball and said, ‘You’re in charge.’ The rest is history. He’s in the Hall of Fame. He was a great student, highly intelligent.”
It should be a fun weekend for the former Spurs players and coaches, even though Parker can’t emerge from the shadow of Popovich.
“I can’t get rid of him,” Parker said, per ESPN’s Tim Bontemps. “He had to be inducted into the same class as me?”
