Tony Parker, 4,447 steps later
Tony Parker entered the NBA a wide-eyed 19-year old rookie with a surrounding cast of grizzled veterans and MVP candidate Tim Duncan. As such, he was accustomed to following orders. Often in the form of San Antonio Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich giving a profanity-laced tirade.
So when it came time for his big moment last night, passing Avery Johnson for the San Antonio Spurs all-time assists record, Parker was quick to provide some instruction of his own.
“I told Timmy every time I pass him the ball to shoot it,” Parker said. “I wanted that assist to be with him, it would be more special for me.”
It was fitting that Parker should reach this career milestone on an assist to Tim Duncan. After all, Parker and Duncan are the longest tenured point guard/power forward combination since John Stockton and Karl Malone ruled the pick-and-roll. Early on Popovich even tried to shoe horn Parker into Stockton’s game before realizing Parker, and the team, were better off when he let Parker simply play his.
Funny then that after years of pounding Parker on the values of facilitating the offense that Popovich would demand an Allen Iverson-esque performance from his point guard on the night Parker would claim the Spurs all-time assists mark.
“It was funny because I knew I had like seven assists [to go], so I thought I was going to come in and pass, but Pop comes in before the game and tells me that I need to shoot 25 times,” Parker said. “He said you need to take 25-30 shots or we’re not going to win. It’s funny because every time Pop says that I have a big night. He asked me to take more than 25 shots, so I was happy to accomplish both.”
With Parker passing Avery Johnson, it’s interesting to note that there could not have been more contrasting styles on how to play the position than the Spurs two greatest. Johnson worked to find the right mismatches and get the ball in the right spots to the right player while Parker was a one-man mismatch that could get the ball to any spot he wanted on the court.
It’s almost as if someone took Johnson’s game and turned it on his head, which coincidentally will work when they retire Parker’s jersey. Because what is a 9 if not an upside down 6? Having played with both point guards, the differences-and Parker’s evolution over the years-were not lost on Duncan.
“Yeah, knowing that [Parker’s] a scoring point guard more than anything, but he’s evolved over the years and he knows how to do it all,” Duncan said. “Pop stayed on him about being a distributor and at the same time having a balance between scoring and passing the ball.
You saw that tonight as he ended up with nine or 10 assists and the forty points. It was a great effort by him and we needed him to do that. He was great for us.”
With Manu Ginobili and T.J. Ford out, lately Parker has been providing the Spurs with everything they need. He is playing at an All-Star level in keeping the team afloat.
“Tony has been a good leader, he’s a good scorer, he’s been an assist guy,” Popovich said. “Literally everything to try and keep the group above water while Manu and T.J. are out. So he’s done a really good job.”
