Another member of San Antonio’s “Big Three” is reportedly headed for franchise immortality.
According to the French newspaper Le Parisien, Spurs guard Tony Parker will have his No. 9 retired by the team on Nov. 11. Parker will then become the last of his former Spurs “Big Three” teammates — joining Tim Duncan (who had his No. 21 retired in 2016) and Manu Ginobili (who had his No. 20 retired last season) — to share in that honor.
The Spurs have yet to make an official announcement about the retirement of Parker’s jersey, but the Nov. 11 game vs. the Memphis Grizzlies (8:30 ET, NBA League Pass) would mark the end of a three-game homestand for San Antonio.
Parker retired from the NBA shortly after the season ended, telling Marc J. Spears of The Undefeated: “A lot of different stuff ultimately led me to this decision. But, at the end of the day, I was like, if I can’t be Tony Parker anymore and I can’t play for a championship, I don’t want to play basketball anymore.”
Once his number is retired, Parker will be 10th player in team history to have earned that honor, joining Bruce Bowen (No. 12), Duncan, Sean Elliott (No. 32), George Gervin (No. 44), Ginobili, Avery Johnson (No. 6), Johnny Moore (No. 00), David Robinson (No. 50) and James Silas (No. 13).
Selected 28th overall by the Spurs in the 2001 Draft, Parker had said he hoped to play 20 seasons in the NBA. A six-time All-Star, Parker was named to the All-NBA second team three times in his career and was Finals MVP in 2007. He spent the 2018-19 campaign with the Charlotte Hornets, who signed him after the Spurs opted not to bring him back as a free agent last summer.
Parker stated 1,151 games regular season games and averaged 15.5 points and 5.6 assists per game. He also played in 226 playoffs games, averaging 17.9 points and 5.1 assists per game.
In his final season with the Spurs, Parker played 55 games averaged 7.7 points and 3.5 assists. During his career, the six-time All-Star averaged 15.8 points and 5.7 assists. He was part of 137 playoff wins with Spurs coach Gregg Popovich, the second most by any coach and player in NBA history. Popovich and Duncan combined for 157 playoff wins.
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.
