Fuck Yea[h] NBA

Tony Parker has been on a tear recently for the San Antonio Spurs, and they’ve needed it with Manu down. In his last five games in February, Parker is averaging 28 ppg (he had 37 last night during the Spurs win over the no-longer-streaking Philadelphia 76ers), 7 apg, 1.6 spg, and he’s shooting .510. That’s a pretty big tear, and it should engender some all-star votes leading up to today’s reserves announcement. 

One writer that understands what Parker brings to the table, is SB Nation’s Tom Ziller. He wrote a paean to Parker today, where he goes over the purity of the point guard play extolled from 2000-2010 and personified by Steve Nash; he of the back-to-back MVP awards. There’s been a changing of the guard when Rose won the award last year as his team’s primary offensive weapon.

Ziller, rightfully, points out how unheralded Parker’s play has been within NBA punditry, and how Rose’s turn into a superstar might help all that. Parker has been leading the Spurs despite  Manu’s fragility and Duncan’s slow ebb towards retirement. 

“But over the last few seasons, campaigns in which Duncan has aged rapidly before our eyes and Ginobili has missed swaths of games, Parker has been there, playing at a high level and keeping the Spurs competitive against every opponent. Yet he’s never finished higher than No. 8 in MVP voting, hasn’t made the All-Star team since 2009 and owns just one All-NBA honor — a third team bid in 2009. He’s been an incredible player for 10 years now, with great team success and excellent numbers … and to date, his legacy is almost equally his marriage to Eva Longoria and alleged affair with Brent Barry’s wife as it is his on-court performance.

It’s not hard to imagine that if Parker had fewer 30-point outbursts and more 12-assist games, no matter what the Spurs actually needed (which has usually been his scoring), he’d have earned more positive notoriety by this point.

[…]

Seeing Rose, styled in the mold of Parker, earn universal acclaim is a positive step forward in our collective reception to point guards who do not emulate Stockton or Cousy. But that Parker had to suffer while the league was blinded by Nash’s stylistic purity is unfortunate, and we can only hope that the Spurs’ continued power leads to more laurels for the Frenchman’s head.”

We’ll see if Parker’s given a spot on the all-star reserves in the Western Conference. His play of late certainly means he won’t be overlooked, but it’s doubtful he’ll ever overcome the idea it’s Duncan, Manu and Popovich’s team more than it’s his.

Also, poor Brent Barry. Not cool bro.

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