Tim Duncan and Tony Parker’s chemistry is great now, but it took a bit for the two stars to click. Check out what Tony said about their relationship early on…
Via ESPN:
Tony Parker and Tim Duncan have shared an awful lot of success teamed on the San Antonio Spurs. They’ve led them to 13 straight 50-win seasons, five straight Southwest Division titles and three NBA titles since Parker entered the league. However, their relationship did not start off on such spectacular terms.
“He didn’t talk to me for a whole year,” Parker said after practice Monday, reflecting on his rookie season in 2001-02 when it wasn’t just a French-English language barrier that wedged a gap between the two. “It was kind of weird coming from France and you have your superstar player that doesn’t talk to you as a point guard, it’s kind of tough, you know? Because you’re supposed to talk to everybody.
“But as we grew together in the league and he trusted me more, I can really say it’s a special relationship because I feel close to him on the court. But even off the court, we’ve both been through a lot of stuff throughout our career so I think it got us closer.”
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Parker said that he finally felt comfortable voicing his opinion to Duncan following their first championship together in 2003 and still fondly remembers the first conversation they had.
“I was very happy,” Parker said. “I remember I was very happy that he finally talked to me. I was like, ‘Maybe I can stay in this team.’ Because if Timmy doesn’t talk to you, it would be tough to stay with the Spurs. Because he’s the franchise. It would be tough.”
