During the NBA Finals, Rey Moralde of The No Look Pass will be contributing to Project Spurs during the San Antonio Spurs' chase for title number five.
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Tony Parker has been a different player these last few years. Even though Tim Duncan is still there, the San Antonio Spurs have really become more of Parker's team. They transitioned the offense into one that predicates ball movement instead of one that uses a lot of the post.
Parker has also become quite a leader. Duncan is in the twilight years of his career. And over the last few years, Parker has taken more of the load of the squad. So when Parker told Duncan last year that he'll help him get back to the Finals, I'm not surprised. Here's what Parker told Marc Spears of Yahoo! Sports:
Duncan "remembered [the promise] and reminds me every time we passed a playoff round," Parker told Yahoo! Sports. "He said, 'We're going to ride you to the end.
"Timmy means a lot to me. I learned so much from him. From the first day I arrived in San Antonio he's always had my back. He's a very good friend, very close to me on the court and off the court."
"Our first championship we were riding him. He was our franchise. I feel very blessed because now it's my turn to try to bring this team to the end. If I can do that for him, it would be … unbelievable."
Now Duncan has a chance to get his fifth championship ring while Parker and Manu Ginobili will have a chance to get their fourth ring. But it's been a treat to see Parker evolve from the young point guard that made plenty of mistakes when they won their first title to the excellent player he has become today.
"He's amazing and he's evolved so much over the past couple of years," Duncan said of Parker. "To get back to this point with him at the helm, I'm just going to do everything I can to get these four games in and try to win four more for both of us. Obviously, he's carrying the load and he said he was going to get me back here. It's a lot of fun to be back here."
Obviously, they will only add to their legacy if they win it all. But what they've done to get back to the Finals is really quite an accomplishment. For far too long, they have been labeled too old. But now, we can only all respect them even more for getting back to the Finals with essentially the same core from their last championship in 2007.
As for Parker, he is in the same boat as Duncan; he doesn't really get enough love. But as mentioned earlier, he's only adding to his legacy. How many all-star point guards has three or more NBA championships? It's quite a short list but the Frenchman is on there.
And if he helps carry Duncan to another ring? The whole world really oughta notice how far Parker has come as a player.