The first European to grace our list. Tony Parker is kind of a symbol for the globalization of basketball. He was born in Belgium to an American farther, but grew up in France and now plays in San Antonio. He has however quickly become one of the better NBA point guards in an era where point guards are king. Parker was kind of an unknown in France and was not a likely draft pick going into the 2000 NBA draft, but an invite to the Nike Hoops Summit changed all that. Parker had a spectacular game and garnered the interest of several NBA teams as well as major US colleges like UCLA. Parker chose to return to France and did not enter the NBA draft until 2001. He fell a bit in the draft and landed right in the laps of the San Antonio Spurs. Parker came to the Spurs and made an immediate impact. Many thought he would see only limited action but he played in 77 games and started in 72 of those averaging 9 points and 4 assists.

In the 2007 NBA playoffs Parker had a spectacular run going against some of the NBA’s elite in point guards in the west. First helping the Spurs defeat the Nuggets and Allen Iverson, than Steve Nash and the Suns, and finally Deron Williams and the Jazz. Parker than lead the Spurs as their won their 4th NBA title in 8 years and Parkers 3rd title. Parker was rewarded with the NBA finals MVP award becoming the first European player to ever win that award.

In recent years Parker has taken over as the face of the team as Tim Duncan has aged. The team has not seen the same success as they had from 03-07 but has continued to be a 50 win team. Parker has also been playing for the French National team which won the Bronze Medal in the 2005 European Championships.

Parker is a three time all-star but with the rise of George Hill in San Antonio his future was a little bit in doubt heading into the 2010 off-season, but it appears the Spurs intend to keep Parker for the foreseeable future.

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