Tony Parker received the ultimate honor from the San Antonio Spurs on Monday night, as they raised his No.9 jersey to the rafters of AT&T Center.
Parker was selected in the first round (28th overall) by the Spurs in the 2001 NBA Draft, and he played with the team for 17 seasons before playing one season as a member of the Charlotte Hornets in 2018-19. Parker made six All-Star teams as a member of the Spurs, and he helped lead the organization to four of their five championships. He was named MVP of the 2007 Finals and he is San Antonio's all-time leader in assists with 6,829.
Parker played in 1,254 regular-season games over the course of his career and finished with career averages of 15.5 points, 5.6 assists and 2.7 rebounds per performance. He also played in 226 playoff games and averaged 17.9 points, 5.1 assists, and 2.9 rebounds in those games. At the peak of his powers, Parker was one of the quickest, and craftiest guards in the entire league.
A plethora of Parker's former teammates, including Manu Ginobili, Tim Duncan, Boris Diaw, Bruce Bowen, Sean Elliott, Hornets forward Nicolas Batum, Milwaukee Bucks guard George Hill, Washington Wizards center Ian Mahinmi, Matt Bonner, Roger Mason, Ronny Turiaf, Tiago Splitter and Malik Rose were in attendance for the festivities on Monday night, as of course was his long-time coach Gregg Popovich, who had some very kind words for his former point guard:
"Thank you for everything you've done for our organization. I love you."
— San Antonio Spurs (@spurs) November 12, 2019
Coach Pop to @tonyparker. #MerciTony pic.twitter.com/xYummOYYsv
Duncan and Ginobili both played with Parker for the better part of two decades, and the trio experienced a whole lot of success together. Now, all three will have their jerseys retired by the Spurs. Thus, it was only fitting that Duncan and Ginobili also both took a turn on the microphone to thank Parker for the memories and wish him all the best moving forward in his post-playing days.
All the feels between TD and @tonyparker. 🖤#MerciTony pic.twitter.com/gBrKCRSOUZ
— San Antonio Spurs (@spurs) November 12, 2019
"It's been a pleasure, man. I wish you all the best."@manuginobili 🤝 @tonyparker #MerciTony pic.twitter.com/9CubBODiJJ
— San Antonio Spurs (@spurs) November 12, 2019
After all of the speeches were done, Parker's jersey was officially raised to the rafters, which you can see below, via the Spurs:
It's official!@tonyparker's No. 9 jersey will live on in the rafters forever. #MerciTony pic.twitter.com/DNqrnZLRew
— San Antonio Spurs (@spurs) November 12, 2019
The next stop for Parker now is the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.