The Spurs Will Reportedly Retire Tony Parker’s Number In November (UPDATE)

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UPDATE: It’s official, Tony Parker will be honored by the Spurs on Nov. 11. The team announced the news in a release.

EARLIER: In June, six-time All-Star, four-time NBA champion, and former Finals MVP Tony Parker abruptly retired from basketball after an illustrious 18-year-career, 17 of which were with the San Antonio Spurs. The overwhelming assumption has been that the Spurs would retire Parker’s jersey when he retired like they did when his former teammates Tim Duncan and Manu Ginobli called it a career, and a report indicates that will, indeed, be the case.

According to French news outlet LeParisien (with a hat tip to WOAI in San Antonio), the Spurs plan to retire Parker’s No. 9 jersey when they take on the Memphis Grizzlies at home on Nov. 11, 2019. Parker will join Duncan, Ginobli, Johnny Moore, Avery Johnson, Bruce Bowen, James Silas, Sean Elliot, George Gervin and David Robinson as the only players to have their jerseys retired by the Spurs.

The list of names that are expected to be at Parker’s jersey retirement ceremony hasn’t been released yet, but as long as he’s still an assistant coach with the team, it’s safe to assume that Duncan will be there. Hopefully Ginobili and Boris Diaw, who played on the French national team with Parker and was a big part of the Spurs’ 2014 championship roster, can also make it. And of course, Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich will probably be there, but because he’s Pop, he may storm off after someone misses a rotation on defense in the second quarter.

Parker retired No. 17 on the NBA’s all-time assists leaderboard despite never leading the league in assists. Combine that with his championships, All-Star appearances, All-NBA honors, and successful international career, and this assuredly won’t be the last time Parker is honored for what he achieved during his time in basketball.

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