In case you didn’t know it, Tony Parker and his Spurs teammate, Boris Diaw, are playing for their native France in EuroBasket 2015 this September. In the ramp-up to the tournament, Tony, Boris, fellow national team members and NBA players, Nicolas Batum and Ronny Turiaf, were all invited onto French Game Show Fort Boyard.
Tony has been on the show before, with then-wife Eva Longoria, so he knew what to expect from the Fear Factor-style show.
In the most elementary terms, contestants on Fort Boyard must go through a series of challenges in order to win. In the video above, Tony’s French teammates attempt to pack him with water, which he must deposit elsewhere on the course. The only caveat? A snarling tiger, eager to eat the Spurs All-Star for lunch is prowling in the designated area.
The whole show is insane, and while we don’t really go in for American iterations of this, we’re guessing it’s about the same amount of zaniness on the opposite side of the Atlantic.
Also, Boris Diaw snarling at the tiger is the best, even if Tony isn’t so enthused.
Later in the same show, which will air on Saturday, July 25, Tony must overcome a strong man of sorts in a wheel challenge (we could be wrong about the setup for this challenge because we don’t speak French, which sucks because Rimbaud is one of our favorites).
Most probably believe Spurs coach Gregg Popovich isn’t too happy his starting point guard is coming so close to the “fearful symmetry” of William Blake’s thematic predator, but Popovich has a bachelor’s degree in Soviet Studies who understands that sometimes an encounter with a Tyger can lead to an augmented fearlessness that might benefit the Spurs in May and June.
(Fort Boyard; H/T CBS Sports)
