It’s very rare for an international player to step onto the NBA court and make a mark. Tony Parker did that and became a trailblazer. The French pro paved the way for international players to get noticed. It’s why he’s deserving of his spot in the 2023 class which will be inducted into the Naismith Memorial Hall of Fame. Despite multiple NBA championship and All-Star selections, Parker didn’t seem to realize his own impact till the NBA HoF honor.

The ‘Parisien Torpedo’ got candid in one of his many pre-HoF ceremony interviews. He’d reveal that he never imagined himself in this position despite everything he accomplished against all the odds.

Tony Parker’s rare accomplishment

Very few NBA players achieve stardom, and even fewer of those stars are from another continent. The era is changing now, and Tony Parker was at the start of it. The Belgium-born French native entered the NBA in 2001 after two seasons in France. While he was with the San Antonio Spurs, under Coach Gregg Popovich, he won four NBA championships, and he was an NBA Finals MVP and a six-time All-Star.

According to Matthew Kaner, Parker is one of 44 players in the history of the NBA to win 4 or more Championships. As of February 2022, 4706 players had played at least one NBA game. Statistically as per Kaner, Parker’s “in the (top) 0.009 percentile.”

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It’s even amazing he’s one of the few foreign players to have had that accomplishment. Yet he remains humble about the impact he had. More importantly, he credits the people who made it happen. “Thanks to Pop [Popovich] and the Spurs I became the youngest European Point Guard to start in the NBA, so that’s pretty cool,” he told Men’s Journal.

Parker won his first NBA title in 2003, leading the Spurs to victory over the New Jersey Nets. He also caused the greatest upset by beating the Los Angeles Lakers and preventing Kobe Bryant‘s team from a four-peat. His interviewer held a grudge against Parker for that, but Parker endearingly said, “those were my favorite series in my entire career.”

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Parker chose Tim Duncan and Manu Ginobili as his presenters for his Hall of Fame induction. It makes perfect sense he chose the teammates he won his championships with. But despite sharing the spotlight with these greats, Parker never saw himself achieving the highest honor post one’s NBA career.

Tony Parker didn’t imagine getting the honor of a lifetime

“When I started my career, I just wanted to have a good career in the NBA. I never thought in my wildest dreams that I’d be a four times Champion, and the Hall of Fame… For me, it’s something that didn’t exist. It’s not something that’s for players like me, you know?” he said.

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But people saw it coming. Not only did he win four titles, but he’s also the first European to win the Finals MVP award. That’s when most people were buzzing that he’s going to the Hall of Fame for sure. He retired in 2019, and the Spurs sent his #9 jersey to the rafters. So even if Tony Parker never pictured himself giving a Hall of Fame speech, we were all ready for it.