NBA legend Parker supports the league's European expansion, urging teamwork as key

Born and raised in Europe, thriving in the NBA and now promoting basketball around the world, French hoops legend Tony Parker is a living embodiment of the game's globalization over the past three decades.

And six years into his retirement, the former San Antonio Spurs playmaker is ready to give another assist for the league's expansion ambition.

As the current owner of French club ASVEL, the four-time NBA championship team member and Basketball Hall of Famer voiced his support for the NBA's next major move — to build a new European league that will feature many of the established clubs across the Atlantic, possibly including his own, and new franchises based in major cities such as London, Paris and Berlin.

Although in its infancy, the NBA's proposal, already endorsed by governing body FIBA, sounds beneficial for the game's overall growth in Europe should all parties involved work as a team, Parker said.

"I think it's a great idea," Parker told China Daily on Sunday while visiting Chengdu to promote a street basketball tournament in the Sichuan provincial capital. "If the EuroLeague, the NBA and FIBA can find a way to work together to build a strong league. That will be amazing for European basketball."

The new European project, jointly communicated by NBA commissioner Adam Silver and FIBA secretary-general Andreas Zagklis at a news conference in March, is aiming to launch an independent league from the current continental system, based on the established EuroLeague, in the next two years, pending approval from FIBA and the NBA Board of Governors.

The new league is expected to consist of up to 16 clubs, welcoming traditional EuroLeague powerhouses, such as Real Madrid from Spain and Galatasaray from Turkiye, to join a slew of new franchises to be built, with 12 permanent entries guaranteed and four spots available each year for a potential qualifying tournament winner to take, according to the NBA's preliminary design.

Having spent his prime years as a player in the United States and now running a club in the EuroLeague as an executive, Parker insists that only by working in collaboration could the new-league experiment yield desired outcomes.

"There is a lot of room for improvement (regarding the commercial operation of clubs in Europe now). I agree with that," said Parker, who won four NBA titles with legendary teammates Tim Duncan and Manu Ginobili from 2003-14 and was awarded the Finals MVP in 2007.

"At the end of the day, we are talking and we are trying to go in the right direction. For me, as an owner of a French club, having an agreement between the three (NBA, FIBA and EuroLeague) is the key to the success of European basketball. NBA Europe league for me is just a matter of time. They are coming, and it's going to happen. The NBA is a very strong brand that is recognized around the world, and in Europe, everybody knows the NBA for sure. That's why I think the NBA can be very helpful to help elevate the game's profile in Europe.'

Selected 28th overall by the Spurs in the 2001 NBA Draft, Parker, a 6-foot-2 (1.88m) guard, has averaged 15.5 points, 2.7 rebounds, and 5.6 assists in 30.5 minutes across 1,254 NBA games representing mainly the Spurs. He spent the final season of his professional career in 2018-19 with the Charlotte Hornets after San Antonio opted not to bring him back as a free agent in the summer of 2018.

The 43-year-old aggressive floor general was a six-time NBA All-Star and was named to the All-NBA second team three times in his career.