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Tony Parker: "I will go with Victor Wembanyama. He is the most complete player. He plays at both ends of the courts and he is young, he is going to keep improving. So if I had to choose one player, I will go with him."
Speaking on the BasketNews Film Session, Tony Parker was presented with a hypothetical scenario: If he had to win the 2027 NBA Finals and could select any European player as his franchise cornerstone, who would he choose? With several European superstars currently dominating the NBA, including Nikola Jokic, Luka Doncic, and Giannis Antetokounmpo, Parker did not hesitate to pick his fellow Frenchman Victor Wembanyama. "I will go with Wemby. He's the most complete player. He plays at both ends of the court, and he's young. He's going to keep improving," Parker said.
Asked what the Spurs star would bring to his playbook tactically, Parker emphasized Wembanyama's basketball intelligence and leadership approach. "The thing I like is that he challenges his coaches and his teammates, and he wants to lead by example, too," Parker explained. "And so, as a coach, that's what you want. You want a player who's going to translate your philosophy the best way you can. And I think he's the type of player who plays with his brain, and wants to understand why we're doing stuff. I always loved playing like that because I'm a point guard. So I love to understand everything and know why we're doing this."
Tony Parker got the better of his younger brother TJ as ASVEL defeated Roanne 96-77 in Round 3 of the Betclic Elite, avenging its French SuperCup semifinal loss. Roanne had spoiled Tony’s first official game as ASVEL head coach, but the latest meeting between the brothers went his way. Tremont Waters led ASVEL with 18 points, six assists and two steals.
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Tony Parker: "But if I have one regret in my career, it's that Joakim didn't play for the French national team more often, because unfortunately he had injuries that kept us from becoming Olympic champions. Because I'm convinced that if Jo hadn't gotten injured in 2012, I think we could have won a gold medal."
After a summer of uncertainty, during which ASVEL was forced to scale back its ambitious project and rebuild the roster, Tony Parker’s team could hardly have asked for a better start to the EuroLeague season. Preparations ended with a disappointing defeat to Roanne in the SuperCup semifinals, but ASVEL responded by beating Maccabi Tel Aviv 84-74 and giving Parker his first official victory as the club’s head coach.
Parker, who reached many of his greatest national team accomplishments alongside Batum, reflected warmly on their journey together. "I'm a little nostalgic. He's always been like a little brother to me," Parker said via Le Progres. "We spoke on Tuesday, and it felt a bit surreal to see him retire. Nicolas is one of the best players in the history of French basketball, and he deserves to be celebrated in a big way."
Tony Parker was asked about the rumors of the Buss Sports Capital fund, run by Joey and Jesse Buss, potentially investing in ASVEL. The coach remained brief talking about the situation. "The discussions are more than advanced. After that, I can't go into too much detail about things like that because I've signed NDAs," he clarified. "But yes, it's no secret that they came to Lyon and that they're the people we're talking with."
Parker then proceeded to reveal that ASVEL are set to come back to their ambitious project for the 2027-28 season. "That's the goal. And that's why sometimes you can feel it's a little unfair when you look at everything that happens and everything that's said."
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LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne continue their unsuccessful preseason by losing the semifinal of the French SuperCup against the champions of France's second division Chorale Roanne Basket 71-73. In a battle of brothers, Roanne's head coach TJ Parker triumphed against his older brother Tony Parker, who coaches ASVEL.
While they won their first game back in August, since then they have recorded five consecutive losses. Only one of those losses were against a EuroLeague team as they fell to Bayern Munich.
Tony Parker: “The question was how I was going to do it, out of respect for a profession that isn’t easy. I wanted to approach it humbly, because I could have gone straight to the United States. But I love being in France, so I told myself: ‘OK, I’m going back to school.’ And I completed my DES [French advanced coaching qualification]. “It came after a conversation with Thierry Henry and Zizou. Both of them, and especially Zizou, explained to me how much it helped him to start again from zero, to put himself in a position where you make yourself a little vulnerable and build yourself up from there."
Chancellor Johnson: The Rockets hired renowned shooting coach Chip Engelland over the offseason. Asked Ime Udoka about his addition. Turns out, Udoka wasn’t quite nice enough to get Engelland’s help during his playing days. “I always joke that I wasn’t big time enough for him to help me with my jump shot. He was always busy Tony Parker and Kawhi and everybody.”