Name: Tony Parker

Team: San Antonio Spurs

Position: Point Guard

NBA Statistics: 17.1 (points), 7.0 (assists), 3.3 (rebounds)

Background: Born in Belgium, but raised in Paris, France this 10-year veteran is one of the more underrated point guards in the game today. His father Tony Parker Snr was also a professional player, so he and his siblings spent many of their nights attending their father’s basketball games.

While initially a fan of football, his viewing of Michael Jordan and his dominance created a shift in his philosophy to hold basketball as his top sport. He had the awareness to know that his size and speed in addition to his court vision would make him ideal to play as a point guard so he embraced the role.

He turned a professional in 1999 signing with the Paris Basket Racing after two years as an amateur. He visited the United States the summer after for a Nike Hoop Summit and recorded 20 points, seven assists and four rebounds in an American vs European All-Stars game to attract the attention of top basketball colleges UCLA and Georgia Tech.

His performance in the US spurred him to declare himself eligible for the 2001 NBA Draft where he was picked up as the 28th overall pick by the San Antonio Spurs. In just his second year he started all 82 games to average 15.5 points, 5.3 assists and 2.6 rebounds and played a key role in the Spurs’ 2002-2003 NBA Championship. His performances were relatively similar in 2005 when the Spurs claimed their second NBA championship in three years, but 2007 was to be his year as he became the first and only European-born player to be named Finals MVP as the Spurs swept the Cleveland Cavaliers 4-0 in the NBA Finals.

The year 2007 was also significant for Tony in the realm of music as he released a French hip-hop album entitled TP.