There’s no questioning San Antonio Spurs guard Tony Parker’s championship pedigree. With him at the helm, the Spurs have won three NBA championships.
Parker’s lists of NBA accomplishments also highlight several all-star appearances and an NBA Finals MVP among others.
But, according to ESPN, Parker is looking to make room on his mantle for something he can’t win with his Spurs castmates of Tim Duncan and Manu Ginobili. Boris Diaw and Nando De Colo, however, could help assure Parker gets the hardware at EuroBasket.
After almost 10 years of playing for the French National Team, Parker is still looking for his first EuroBasket title.
"It would be great," he said. "It would be the last trophy. Because in the NBA I won everything. In European basketball, no."
Parker and France took the appropriate step to do just that in eliminating Slovenia in the quarterfinals on Wednesday behind Parker’s 27-point effort. In order for Parker to reach his goal, France will have to defeat Spain in the semifinals on Friday, which could prove to be a tough task.
France coach Vincent Collet says Parker is just the man to face that task and that Parker thrives in this type of situation.
"Guys like TP know this situation for so long, and for them it doesn't make them scared," he said. "They are excited and it helps them find extra energy, because that's what they like. Tony has played NBA playoffs for 10 years. That's the situation he loves the most in basketball. For him it's easier to play this game than the first game of the first group."
And if it doesn’t happen for Parker this Summer, he says he’ll be back in two years to give it another run.
"Two years ago, we were pretty close. If it doesn't happen this year, I'll come back in 2015 and try to do it again. That's basketball. That's life. If you're not good enough. You'll try again. You try to improve and get better and do it next time."
