Spurs Legend Tony Parker Rips France After FIBA 'Fiasco'
SAN ANTONIO - It's rare in international hoops that an old legend will blast his national team for a meltdown but that's exactly what we have with newly-crowned Hall of Famer Tony Parker.
The San Antonio Spurs legend and French icon recently made an appearance on the French talk show hosted by Stephen Time on RMC Radio and laid into a French team that flamed out at the FIBA World Cup. Not only did Les Bleus not make the medal round, they looked more like a third world qualifier than the global power that Parker and former Spurs forward Boris Diaw helped build.
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“There, we (France) really experienced a fiasco. I talked about it for a long time with Nicolas Batum, we spoke for an hour on the phone, and it’s true that it’s very, very disappointing. It’s not normal for such a team to lose in the first round. We have never seen Spain and the United States go out in the first round. And it’s a shame because our generation worked so hard to bring France back to a certain level, so that we could be respected, by FIBA, the referees, the other countries. Latvia had a great match. They had some crazy shots, but it’s not normal. It’s still a bit of a shame,” Parker said.
Parker didn't stop there. He wants scalps. He wants a roster overhaul and that means new Spurs phenom Victor Wembanyama and perhaps even NBA MVP Joel Embiid who apparently has enough of a French connection to make the club should he desire.
"They are going to have big choices to make. If you bring back big players like Joel Embiid, and Victor (Wembanyama), it has to be complementary with the rest, because it could mean the departure of certain cornerstones, which can make headlines. We have to improve the team, we need changes, but it’s not going to be easy,” Parker said.
Yikes. There's already enough pressure on Wemby to show he can become an NBA star but now he's gonna have to go save the French in next year's Olympics. In Paris. Good luck, kid.
