Gregg Popovich thinks back 16 years and wonders what he was thinking. This 19-year-old kid out of France was actually playing well enough during the preseason to make the grizzled coach wonder if he had what it took to be a point guard on his NBA team.
“The way he played in training camp was so impressive,” Popovich recalled about that first season with Tony Parker in 2001. “He made us talk about making a decision during preseason games whether we were going to roll the dice and give him the ball, knowing full well there were going to be ups and downs and those sorts of things and did we think the upside was good enough and probable enough that by playoff time he could handle the situation.”
The Spurs rolled the dice, and for 16 years Parker has been one of the premier backcourt players in the league, helping San Antonio to four NBA championships. It all started when he was 19, the same age as the Knicks’ French rookie point guard, Frank Ntilikina. The two met Tuesday night on the Garden floor where the Spurs earned a 100-91 victory. Parker had six points and three assists in 24 minutes, while Ntilikina came off the bench to collect three points and 1 assist in 16 minutes.
Ntilikina hasn’t had the early impact that Parker had his rookie season, when he started 72 games and averaged 9.2 points and 4.3 assists. Ntilikina is coming off the bench and trying to put quality minutes together. He battled through a cold Tuesday night and made more turnovers (two) than jump shots (one).
“He’s 19 years old and he’s made great strides,” Knicks coach Jeff Hornacek said. “He’s getting better and better every day. We’re happy with the way he’s progressing.”
Truth is, Popovich had to be patient with Parker. The coach wasn’t impressed at first glance.
“He was a skinny kid and the first time he worked out I didn’t want him,” Popovich said. “I thought he was soft. I thought he didn’t care. I thought he thought he was too cool for school and I said, ‘No.’ So we sent him out of town.”
R.C. Buford, the Spurs general manager, wanted to give Parker another chance. Popovich relented, but concocted a gauntlet for Parker to go through to prove his toughness.
“We put him in the post and he went one-on-one consecutive with those guys just to see if he had toughness,” Popovich said. “He came back a totally different person and realized whatever he realized and was so impressive toughness-wise.”
Ntilikina still hasn’t shown the toughness Parker broke into the league with. He’s not the kind of instant energy the Knicks could have used Tuesday night. The Knicks will be lucky if they get half the career out of Ntilikina the Spurs have gotten out of Parker, who is one of six players in NBA history to record at least 18,500 points and 6,500 assists.
“He’s probably the guy that has gotten forgotten more than most,” Popovich said. “Tony has been that steady guy that has been there to keep us all copacetic and to understand the relationships on the team and where the ball has to go and has no problem getting the ball where it needs to go.”
Popovich had never heard of Ntilikina, whom the Knicks selected with the eighth pick overall.
“We draft 27th, 28th, 29th every year,” he said. “What do I know about the eighth best prospect? Nothing.” He knows about Ntilikina now after Tuesday’s game, and their first meeting Thursday night when the Spurs beat the Knicks 119-107 in San Antonio. Ntilikina scored nine points with a career-high 11 assists in 32 minutes off the bench in that game.
“I thought he looked solid,” Popovich said. “He looked confident. He didn’t look fearful at all. He wasn’t overly impressed with the NBA. He played. He looked like a pretty comfortable guy.”
Parker had these words of advice for Ntilikina: “Just stay positive. It’s a long season. He’s doing great.”