Spurs Brazil
10-27-2007, 09:27 PM
http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/basketball/nba/spurs/stories/MYSA102807.03M.BKNspurs.parker.283d34d.html
Spurs' Parker must prove that he can handle success
Web Posted: 10/27/2007 05:28 PM CDT
Jeff McDonald
Express-News
There is fame, and then there is Fame with an uppercase. Tony Parker knows them both.
The first is the kind of celebrity that comes with being a stage actor, a state senator or a reality-show contestant. It elicits a "Hey, it's that guy" from passersby on the street. The second is the domain of the uber-celebrity — the movie star, the head of state, the Pope, the Beatle.
Parker, the Spurs' 25-year-old hiccup-quick point guard, has come to understand the distinction between the two.
In America, where outside of San Antonio he is still best known as Eva Longoria's husband, Parker has fame. In his home country of France, where Eva Longoria is best known as his new wife, he has Fame.
There is a difference.
Just ask the hundreds of invited guests at his July wedding in Paris. Or the dozens of paparazzo who attended sans invitation.
Or ask Ian Mahinmi, the 20-year-old Spurs rookie who hails from France and, until this summer, idolized Parker from afar.
"In France, Tony is Famous," Mahinmi said. "You don't even know how Famous."
Mahinmi means the capitalized version of the word.
"He can't even walk down the street," Mahinmi said.
After a coming-out party last season, Parker is poised to attain that kind of name recognition on this side of the Atlantic as well.
He wasn't exactly anonymous in NBA circles last season, but his first career All-Star berth and a Finals MVP award served to boost Parker's profile among the league's most casual fans.
Heading into his seventh season, Parker is a rising star on a team that still has Tim Duncan and Manu Ginobili. It's a distinction he vows will not become a distraction.
"I just have to play the same way," said Parker, who averaged 18.6 points per game last season and 20.8 in the playoffs. "I don't think I have to try to do too much. I think it would be bad if I tried to do that. I just have to be myself."
It's new territory for Parker. There was a time not long ago that some factions of Spurs fans wished he were Jason Kidd.
Earlier in his career, Parker was criticized for his penchant to disappear in the playoffs. After the Spurs won a championship in 2003, they briefly flirted with bringing in Kidd as a free agent.
But last season, Parker shook off his June jitters for good.
He posted games of 32, 30 and 23 points in the conference semifinals against Phoenix, games of 25, 21 and 21 in the conference finals against Utah and games of 30, 27 and 24 against Cleveland in the NBA Finals.
In the end, he cemented his breakout postseason by becoming the first Spurs player other than Duncan to be named Finals MVP. He hopes to ride that wave into this season, which opens Tuesday against Portland.
"Tony is in a good, comfortable position right now," guard Brent Barry said. "In the past, he's handled adversity very well. Now it will be interesting to see how he handles success."
The Spurs are hoping Parker handles one the way he has handled the other. By getting better.
Since coming into the league at 19 years old in 2001, Parker has improved his jumper every year. As such, his game has improved a few feet at a time.
In time, the Spurs believe Parker could be a lethal 3-point shooter. He showed flashes of that last season.
"He's gotten better every year he's been here," Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. "He definitely has that capability."
There aren't a whole lot of red-blooded men, American or otherwise, who wouldn't want to be Tony Parker right now.
He is a budding basketball superstar. He has a movie-star wife.
He has fame, and is working on Fame.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[email protected]
Spurs' Parker must prove that he can handle success
Web Posted: 10/27/2007 05:28 PM CDT
Jeff McDonald
Express-News
There is fame, and then there is Fame with an uppercase. Tony Parker knows them both.
The first is the kind of celebrity that comes with being a stage actor, a state senator or a reality-show contestant. It elicits a "Hey, it's that guy" from passersby on the street. The second is the domain of the uber-celebrity — the movie star, the head of state, the Pope, the Beatle.
Parker, the Spurs' 25-year-old hiccup-quick point guard, has come to understand the distinction between the two.
In America, where outside of San Antonio he is still best known as Eva Longoria's husband, Parker has fame. In his home country of France, where Eva Longoria is best known as his new wife, he has Fame.
There is a difference.
Just ask the hundreds of invited guests at his July wedding in Paris. Or the dozens of paparazzo who attended sans invitation.
Or ask Ian Mahinmi, the 20-year-old Spurs rookie who hails from France and, until this summer, idolized Parker from afar.
"In France, Tony is Famous," Mahinmi said. "You don't even know how Famous."
Mahinmi means the capitalized version of the word.
"He can't even walk down the street," Mahinmi said.
After a coming-out party last season, Parker is poised to attain that kind of name recognition on this side of the Atlantic as well.
He wasn't exactly anonymous in NBA circles last season, but his first career All-Star berth and a Finals MVP award served to boost Parker's profile among the league's most casual fans.
Heading into his seventh season, Parker is a rising star on a team that still has Tim Duncan and Manu Ginobili. It's a distinction he vows will not become a distraction.
"I just have to play the same way," said Parker, who averaged 18.6 points per game last season and 20.8 in the playoffs. "I don't think I have to try to do too much. I think it would be bad if I tried to do that. I just have to be myself."
It's new territory for Parker. There was a time not long ago that some factions of Spurs fans wished he were Jason Kidd.
Earlier in his career, Parker was criticized for his penchant to disappear in the playoffs. After the Spurs won a championship in 2003, they briefly flirted with bringing in Kidd as a free agent.
But last season, Parker shook off his June jitters for good.
He posted games of 32, 30 and 23 points in the conference semifinals against Phoenix, games of 25, 21 and 21 in the conference finals against Utah and games of 30, 27 and 24 against Cleveland in the NBA Finals.
In the end, he cemented his breakout postseason by becoming the first Spurs player other than Duncan to be named Finals MVP. He hopes to ride that wave into this season, which opens Tuesday against Portland.
"Tony is in a good, comfortable position right now," guard Brent Barry said. "In the past, he's handled adversity very well. Now it will be interesting to see how he handles success."
The Spurs are hoping Parker handles one the way he has handled the other. By getting better.
Since coming into the league at 19 years old in 2001, Parker has improved his jumper every year. As such, his game has improved a few feet at a time.
In time, the Spurs believe Parker could be a lethal 3-point shooter. He showed flashes of that last season.
"He's gotten better every year he's been here," Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. "He definitely has that capability."
There aren't a whole lot of red-blooded men, American or otherwise, who wouldn't want to be Tony Parker right now.
He is a budding basketball superstar. He has a movie-star wife.
He has fame, and is working on Fame.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[email protected]