According to French site LNB.fr, San Antonio Spurs All-Star guard Tony Parker will be returning to Team France after getting some extended rest from coach Vincent Collet after dealing with some thigh pain.
"He needs time to regain his best," recalls Vincent Collet said his star player still felt "a little slight pain" in the thigh.
Parker noted the thigh pain could be due to his recovery after the NBA Finals. Parker was banged up and running on fumes by the time Game 7 of the NBA Finals came around.
Parker will likely not play very much early on with Les Bleus when they play starting tomorrow in Strasbourg against Germany. They’ll also play Croatia on Saturday and Greece on Sunday. The team is playing in Strasbourg in preparation for 2013 FIBA EuroBasket, which begins on September 4.
Parker said the extra rest helped him mentally and that his fellow players would be understanding of him getting the extra two days.
"It made me feel good. I needed especially mentally, because I finished the NBA season on June 21, from 23," said "TP". "All the players know that I finished the end of June, I played the most games, the most minutes.”
Spurs fans, and not to mention, Spurs brass, are likely very thankful Parker got the extra rest and will be hoping for very little playing time leading up to next month.
"I'm sure (Gregg) Popovich would have liked that I did not play at all. But he knows my commitment to Team France , he added. And I have all the time to rest after my career. I have 40 or 50 years to go on vacation. I want to enjoy it as long as I'm healthy." (via Sports.Orange.fr)
Parker should be in good shape to start EuroBasket in Slovenia on the 4th. France will play in Group A along with Ukraine, Great Britain, Germany, Israel and Belgium.
