Looking back at one of the greatest days in franchise history

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Originally Posted by daslicer

I remember how depressing it was to watch the Spurs get swept by the Lakers in '01. It was pretty bad the fall out of that sweep. It seemed like the Spurs would be a long ways away from winning a championship again. I tuned in to that draft to see who the Spurs would draft but wasn't expect anything great since the Spurs had the last pick of the first round. When I heard the name Tony Parker I was kind of shocked because I had never heard of him since he was a foreign prospect and back then it wasn't common to draft those type of players in the first round. Then when I heard his interview after getting picked which went something like this "I'm confident I can help the spurs win another championship." It was at that point I was sold this guy could be a big time contributor for the Spurs. As crazy as sounds I liked his cockyness back then and felt the Spurs needed some of it after getting embarrassed by the Lakers.

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Man I remember all of that too well Slicer, looked up his stats from overseas and saw his steals per game and pointed it out to my boy and he said that is insane. I thought he might be something but had no clue he would start his first year at 19 and become who he was today. That was a HELL of a pick, steal to say the least.

One of my first memories of Parker is against the Sonics when he was being guarded by Gary Payton and drive baseline. He faked a pass to corner which Payton bit then Parker proceeds to lay it in. At that moment I knew we had a great PG but for some reason made me feel sorry for Payton.

Head of the snake :tu Spur's FO lightyears ahead of everyone

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Originally Posted by Splits

Outside of drafting Timmy, I can't think of a more consequential day for the organization.

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Of course you can't, I wonder why. What's about..."With the first overall pick in 1987 we selected David Robinson" and "We traded Hill to Indiana for Kawhi in 2011"

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Originally Posted by spurs1990

Best thing about the photo is that Nike Spurs cap.

Really. Not being disrespectful. I just really dig those hats back then.

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Next year bud, new jerseys!

Second, or at worst third, best European player in NBA history (behind Dirk and maybe Pau). Best French player ever. Best Spurs point guard ever.

I'd say a pretty good pick. :flag:

Yep, Tony Parker..... one of the all time Spurs greats. To the haters, fuck yall biatch ass biatches.

great thread. :tu

MVPARKER :worthy:

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Originally Posted by Splits

Outside of drafting Timmy, I can't think of a more consequential day for the organization.

Congrats TP9

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http://i125.photobucket.com/albums/p...use/bonpop.jpg
So many great moments.

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Originally Posted by daslicer

I remember how depressing it was to watch the Spurs get swept by the Lakers in '01. It was pretty bad the fall out of that sweep. It seemed like the Spurs would be a long ways away from winning a championship again. I tuned in to that draft to see who the Spurs would draft but wasn't expect anything great since the Spurs had the last pick of the first round. When I heard the name Tony Parker I was kind of shocked because I had never heard of him since he was a foreign prospect and back then it wasn't common to draft those type of players in the first round. Then when I heard his interview after getting picked which went something like this "I'm confident I can help the spurs win another championship." It was at that point I was sold this guy could be a big time contributor for the Spurs. As crazy as sounds I liked his cockyness back then and felt the Spurs needed some of it after getting embarrassed by the Lakers.

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That's exactly the point. Parker was enough of a force from the beginning that while Pop tried to bring him off the bench at the beginning of the 01-02 season, he was outplaying Antonio Daniels (who had been one of the lone bright spots for the Spurs in the 01 WCF) by enough that after the 4th game of that season, AD essentially begged out of the lineup and Parker and his self-belief became a fixture.

I've written here a bunch of times about how that summer was actually the turning point for the Spurs franchise (in my opinion). Pop had a bunch of talented guys who could play in 2001, but many of them were perfectly willing to roll over and not fight once the Lakers took Games 1 and 2 in SA. That summer put an end to that. Since then, the Spurs have sought talented guys but have philosophically valued players who are competitors who don't back down from much of anything -- Parker, Ginobili (as the choice over Gordan Giricek), Jackson, Bowen, Horry, Finley, Oberto, Hill, Leonard, Joseph -- even if they aren't as talented as some other players. Those guys haven't always worked out as the Spurs might have hoped, but they all compete. And while they've had some bad losses and relatively disappointing seasons for a spoiled fanbase like this one in the intervening 14 years, those losses haven't been because they've refused to play hard. And that's the philosophical cornerstone of the Duncan era after 2001.

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Originally Posted by LongtimeSpursFan

One of my first memories of Parker is against the Sonics when he was being guarded by Gary Payton and drive baseline. He faked a pass to corner which Payton bit then Parker proceeds to lay it in. At that moment I knew we had a great PG but for some reason made me feel sorry for Payton.

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Parker was great in that series, particularly in Games 1 and 3, and his ability to perform at that level against Payton at such a young age certainly suggested then that he was ready for prime time.

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Originally Posted by Russ

Hmmmm . . .

Fifteen years ago a 19 year-old point guard goes lower than everyone expected and falls to the Spurs at 28. Four titles follow . . .

Now a 19 year-old point guard goes lower than everyone expected and falls to the Spurs at 29 . . .

:flag:

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So five titles should follow . . . :flag:

A PG who would go on to:

-Win 4 titles & FMVP
-Be the winningest player in NBA history (minimum 1000 games)
-Be the all-time leading playoff scoring PG
-Knock the "best PGs" of his generation out of the playoffs: Payton, Kidd, Billups, Deron, Nash, CP3, Conley, Westbrook, Curry, etc etc etc

Boiled down...

Parker: 4
Eliancito: 1

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Originally Posted by Chris

Boiled down...

Parker: 4
Eliancito: 1

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Nash :cry
Cp3 :cry

imagine being stupid enough to think tony hasn't helped the team tremendously since being drafted

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Originally Posted by FromWayDowntown

Best point guard in Spurs history, easily. If you dispute that, you weren't a Spurs fan before 2001.

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You can't dispute it past 2001 either.

My favorite Spur of all-time, tbh:tu

Between nerd Tim and nice guy David....is TP the most alpha Spur ever, tbh...?

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Originally Posted by FromWayDowntown

Best point guard in Spurs history, easily. If you dispute that, you weren't a Spurs fan before 2001.

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this... but I have a bias since I'm a huge Parker fan, tbh

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Originally Posted by FromWayDowntown

Best point guard in Spurs history, easily. If you dispute that, you weren't a Spurs fan before 2001.

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couldn't have said it better. Best freaking point guard ever!! i remember year after year of wasting big Dave's career with shitty pg after shitty pg. from Cory to Negele and AJ. Thank god Timmy got TP for his career. Best Spurs point guard ever.

So much stupid hate for TP on this forum, but the fact is he's been a superb Spur. In his prime he was the best PG in the NBA, regularly owning CP3 and DWill in h2h matchups, and often carrying the team through the down years (2008-2012). And he thoroughly deserved the MVP in 2007.

Props to TP for still being here 15 years later. :tu

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Originally Posted by ElNono

this... but I have a bias since I'm a huge Parker fan, tbh

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Put down the fucking burrito and lose some weight then gordo.

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Originally Posted by baseline bum

Put down the fucking burrito and lose some weight then gordo.

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Nigga, I lost 30 lbs since January, I'm swimming on the weekends, best shape I've been in a while, tbh... still need to lose another 10-20 lbs, tbh...

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Originally Posted by ElNono

Nigga, I lost 30 lbs since January, I'm swimming on the weekends, best shape I've been in a while, tbh... still need to lose another 10-20 lbs, tbh...

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What are swimming for, you already crossed the river man.

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Originally Posted by baseline bum

What are swimming for, you already crossed the river man.

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I still have family overseas, tbh, they might need help...