Tony Parker Will Play in France
Tony Parker, point guard for the San Antonio Spurs, has officially confirmed that he will become a member of the ASVEL Villeurbanne basketball club in France.
The club made an official announcement about welcoming the French 10-year NBA veteran on its website.
"The club ASVEL Basket welcomes with great pleasure the arrival of Tony Parker, one of the best basketball players in French history," the statement on ASVEL's official website said.
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"Following the uncertainty of recent weeks, the club is delighted that this transaction has been finalized."
Parker also spoke to the French newspaper L’Equipe and expressed his excitement to play for the club
"I have decided to play for ASVEL," Parker told the newspaper. "It was a logical choice for me to play in France, to come to help my club."
Parker also addressed the issue of returning to the NBA if the new Collective Bargaining Agreement is agreed upon.
"If, in January, I am still there and the NBA season has been canceled, we will have other objectives,” Parker said, according to CNN reports. “If I play the whole season, we will try to win the title."
According to CNN, Parker is ASVEL’s President of Basketball Operations, after acquiring 20 percent of the team in 2009. However, the 29-year-old will take a major pay cut and make $1,995 per month in his native country.
The PG recognized that his pay was below what most would expect from a star NBA player who was named the 2007 league MVP.
"I'll be playing nearly for free,” Parker said, according to NBA.com.
The move has been on Parker’s mind, and he expressed his passion for playing in France amid a lockout last April.
"If the conflict lasts, I think I'll go and play in France so that my fans can see me up close,” Parker said, according to Yahoo! Sports. “I could really progress abroad in a big Euroleague team, but I do not want that. I already had my glory and titles. If the lockout lasts, I will probably go to play to Villeurbanne."
