2023-08-13 04:23:56
He entered the Pantheon in a light gray suit, enhanced with a perfectly fitted bow tie. In the ancient Symphony Hall in Springfield, Tony Parker gave his first Hall of Famer speech on Saturday evening. And he did it rather well, tinting the memories with smiles, filling the words with a delicate emotion, in a just balance which ended, inevitably, by bringing tears to him when he had to thank his father, Tony Senior, his mother, Pamela, and his brothers, Pierre and TJ, themselves, quickly overwhelmed.
The exercise was not easy. First to appear at the lectern, Parker had the delicate mission of launching the high mass, of setting the right tone, between solemnity and lightness, to wedge the assistance comfortably into the softness of the red velvet seats. A few minutes earlier, arriving at the foot of the imposing staircase of the monument, before climbing the last steps towards the Temple, TP had slowly walked the 200 meters of red carpet, followed, surrounded, brooded over by his “big French mafia “, as he says, friends, families, come to commune, celebrate, celebrate the first Frenchman in the Hall of Fame, all American sports combined and take to the highest level the little Frenchy who arrived in the NBA in 2001, at 19 years old.
“You have always been a second father to me.
Tony Parker to Gregg Popovich
Before entering the Hall Symphony, while for more than an hour, the legends followed one another at the entrance at a slow pace, Pat Riley, Allen Iverson, Ray Allen, Chris Bosh, Gary Payton, Jason Kidd, David Robinson …in a stately procession, Parker paused for a moment. Emotion had already gripped him. “It’s going well, I’ll try not to cry. The speech, I hold it, but when you’re there, it’s not the same, ”he slipped, before rushing into the Hall of History.
When Tim Duncan and Manu Ginobili, his “introducers” in the Hall of Fame, settled wisely on his right, the quadruple NBA champion and MVP of the 2007 Finals, immediately set the scene, without fear. On the desk, still untouched by the slightest history of the 2023 class, he put all the power of this incredible promotion and his 15 NBA titles accumulated between Gregg Popovich, Pau Gasol, Dirk Nowitzki, Dwyane Wade and TP! “What an incredible promotion. I have so many connections with this class, Pau Gasol, Spurs teammate and great rival with Spain, Dirk Nowitzki, friend and opponent in hot Texas derbies, D Wade, my little brother’s favorite player , Becky Hammon, my big sister and coach Pop obviously”, to which TP will say later: “You have always been a second father for me. »
The words were suddenly weighted with tears
At ease, TP varied the pleasures. He told the pretty stories, while measuring the immensity in which he put his feet this Saturday evening. He introduced his “witnesses”, Tim Duncan and Manu Ginobili. He recalled that the former didn’t talk to him about the entire first regular season, but he no longer resented him, calling Spurs’ iconic interior the “best power forward in history”, also chambering him about of his eye superpowers, “he never asked for the ball, he only looked at me. And when you’re 19, when you come from France, it’s very scary when Tim Duncan looks at you! “As for Ginobili, TP confided: “He is the most unique player I have played with. He was so unique that Pop didn’t know what to do with him for the first two years. »
The story was beautiful and the Springfield public enjoyed listening to the Frenchy. In his child’s bed, in Fécamp, TP’s dreams cheerfully exceeded the folds of the duvet. And there, on the stage, he was up there and he liked it. But when it came time for family, then the words were suddenly heavier. Downright weighted with tears when he stared into his father’s, “I love you.” To his mother then, then to his brothers, to his sons, Josh and Liam, to his companion, Alizé Lim, he declaimed the same love and the room fell silent.
From Thierry Henry, the “big brother” who came to his rescue after his quadriceps injury in 2017, to eternal friends, Boris Diaw and Ronny Turiaf, via Michael Jordan, his idol and “his boss” in Charlotte, the last scene in his eighteen-year career, Tony has not forgotten anyone in the list of thanks. And sure he will not forget this night when he joined, for eternity, the legends of his sport.
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