Tony Parker is a French professional basketball player who plays for the National Basketball Association (NBA). From 2018 to the present, he plays for the Charlotte Hornets as point guard.
William Anthony Parker Jr. or simply Tony Parker was born on May 17, 1982 in Bruges, Belgium. His father, Tony Parker Sr., was a popular basketball player. And my mother, Pamela Firestone, successfully built a modeling career in Holland. But when she got married, she gave up her job.
Tony Parker was the oldest child in the family. His two younger brothers, TJ and Pierre, later also became professional basketball players. However, the desire to engage in this particular sport did not come to Tony immediately. As a child, he was fascinated by football. Parker has been playing this game in the backyard since he was two years old. But that all changed after his trip to the United States. When the boy was nine years old, he went to America to visit his paternal grandparents.
It was there that Tony saw the Chicago Bulls and Michael Jordan in particular. The boy soon decided that he wanted to become an NBA player. He began visiting Chicago regularly to train with the best coaches. In addition, with the help of his father, Tony joined several local French basketball teams. Eventually, it paid off and his game began to improve significantly. By 1997, Tony had already become an established player in the European basketball arena. He played in a point guard position, which, given the speed and agility of the athlete, was ideal for him. In the end, the budding basketball player was spotted and invited to the National Institute of Sports and Physical Education in Paris, where he continued his studies, while playing in the French basketball team Center Federal. Tony was fifteen then. He later joined the INSEP club and was eventually offered a contract with the Parisian professional basketball club Paris Basketball Racing. Moving step by step towards his goal, Tony Parker reached the pinnacle of French professional basketball.
The professional career of this outstanding basketball player began back in 1999 at the Paris Basketball Racing club. As part of the team, he spent two seasons. In 2000, an important game took place in Parker's career. He took part in the Nike Hoop in Indianapolis, playing alongside the already established basketball stars. Tony Parker managed to fully demonstrate his skills and attract attention to himself as a talented aspiring player. Several colleges, including the University of California Los Angeles and Georgia Institute of Technology, have tried to get a basketball player who has chalked up 20 points, 7 assists, 4 rebounds and 2 steals. But he turned down the offers and decided to stay in France. He spent the next two years with Paris Basket Racing. And then he joined the San Antonio Spurs professional basketball team. With his participation, the club won four NBA championships in 2003, 2005, 2007 and 2014.
In addition, since 2001, Tony began playing for the French basketball team ASVEL. As a French citizen, he represented his country and won several medals at the Eurobasket. In 2006, Parker was supposed to lead the French team at the FIBA World Cup, but he was unable to due to an injury received in training. Returning to the team in 2007, the basketball player showed excellent results after nine tournament games in the FIBA Championship. But his team failed to go beyond the quarterfinals. After an unsuccessful performance, Tony Parker decided to take a break. In 2011 he returned and France reached the final of the FIBA European Championship. Parker also joined the team at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London.
On July 23, 2018, Parker was sold to the Charlotte Hornets basketball club. He debuted as a Hornets player on October 17, 2018. It is known that his contract with this team was signed for 2 years.
In November 2006, Tony Parker's engagement to the famous American actress Eva Longoria took place. The basketball player was almost 8 years younger than his chosen one. The wedding ceremony of this star couple took place on July 6, 2007 in Paris. But, unfortunately, their marriage was short-lived. Several years later, Eva filed for divorce, citing "irreconcilable differences" as the reason. And on January 28, 2011, the marriage was officially terminated.
After the end of his relationship with the actress, Parker began dating French journalist Axel Francine. In June 2013, it became known that Tony had become engaged to his girlfriend. Parker and Axel Francine were married on August 2, 2014. The couple have two sons: Josh Parker, born in April 2014, and Liam Parker, born in July 2016.
