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Got into an argument with a buddy of mine who called Tony Parker "just your average safe, textbook pointguard".
I was disgusted, but to be fair to him, he only started following basketball during LeBron's Miami championship years (He was a Heat fan then and a Cavs fan now lol)
Anyway, i had to educate him on the real Tony Parker's achievements and big playoff games etc.
Then he said that Parker wasn't clutch like Kyrie and i showed him the gamewinner against the Heat in 13, and then it changed to "Pop's system".
That got me thinking a little. Tony is my favorite non-big and the reason i became a Spurs fan, but I'm fairly new to the NBA myself (Tony's game 2 performance in the 07 finals was the first full game i ever watched and I started rooting for the Spurs ever since). He looked legit in that series and in his peak in 09(imo), but I'm not too sure how much of that was Tony and how much was Pop.

So TLDR: How good was Tony at his best? When was his best? What was the general perception of him at the time? Top10? Top15? Top 20?30? System player? Maybe some views on where he would rank today would be awesome too. Discuss

He was pretty much the only non big man to consistently be in the top 20 (or was it top 10) in points in the paint.

You're talking about a 6'3 Point Guard being the only non big man to be in the top 20 in points in the paint, and he actually led the league in points in the paint as well at one point

http://www.spursdynasty.com/2006/01/parker-duncan-lead-points-in-paint.html


Let that sink in for a second.

When we switched up the offense and went all in on ball movement and tempo is when Tony really started to shine. At his best he was unstoppable in the paint and in transition. His jumper and not so great defense limited him a bit but at his best he was a boarderline top 10 player in the league.

Finals MVP winner and perennial All-Star in the loaded West.

One of the best guards in basketball and probably would've put up even gaudier scoring stats if not for playing on the most unselfish team in the league.

Lights out post-season player, too.

Dude has played in 221 games in the playoffs (!) and has averaged 18 PPG for his career there - would be higher but his postseason scoring has dipped since winning their last title in 2014.

Not a great defender or outside shooter but fantastic player outside of those two departments.

Your friend clearly didn't watch basketball from 2003 - 2014.

HE NEVER BETTER THAN PRIME NASH,PAUL,DERON & BARON DAVIS,HE HAS NEVER BEING IN TOP 5 MVP DISCUSSION THROUGHTOUT HIS CAREEER,HE LOOKS GOOD BECAUSE HE HAS DUNCAN CARRY THE LOAD

HE IS JUST A SHOOTING GRAUD IN PG'S BODY,PARKER NEVER HV A SEASON AVG MORE THAN 7 APG,I NEVER CALLED HIM A PG WHO CAN'T PASS

Great answers so far. I'm thinking it would be a stretch to put him in the same tier as today's top PGs (Curry, Westbrook, Paul?), but in that second tier, he'd be battling Wall for top spot, over the Lowrys, Kyries, ITs, Lillards etc.

ImissJordan wrote:Finals MVP winner and perennial All-Star in the loaded West.

One of the best guards in basketball and probably would've put up even gaudier scoring stats if not for playing on the most unselfish team in the league.

Lights out post-season player, too.

Dude has played in 221 games in the playoffs (!) and has averaged 18 PPG for his career there - would be higher but his postseason scoring has dipped since winning their last title in 2014.

Not a great defender or outside shooter but fantastic player outside of those two departments.

Your friend clearly didn't watch basketball from 2003 - 2014.

Although i think that TP was a top 3 or even the best PG in the NBA at some point, i would like to say:
1- Finals MVP was a matter of match ups in that series, but he wasn't the best player in those Spurs and not even in the payoffs.
2- Lights out in the post season is questionable. I would say he outplayed some of the best PG, but he wasn't an outstanding closer in the playoffs. I guess that's why size matters.

Frankie23 wrote:

ImissJordan wrote:Finals MVP winner and perennial All-Star in the loaded West.

One of the best guards in basketball and probably would've put up even gaudier scoring stats if not for playing on the most unselfish team in the league.

Lights out post-season player, too.

Dude has played in 221 games in the playoffs (!) and has averaged 18 PPG for his career there - would be higher but his postseason scoring has dipped since winning their last title in 2014.

Not a great defender or outside shooter but fantastic player outside of those two departments.

Your friend clearly didn't watch basketball from 2003 - 2014.

Although i think that TP was a top 3 or even the best PG in the NBA at some point, i would like to say:
1- Finals MVP was a matter of match ups in that series, but he wasn't the best player in those Spurs and not even in the payoffs.
2- Lights out in the post season is questionable. I would say he outplayed some of the best PG, but he wasn't an outstanding closer in the playoffs. I guess that's why size matters.

1- Fair enough, but 24.5 PPG on 57% shooting is ridiculous. Duncan was certainly the best player on the team in the Finals (18 ppg/12 rpg/4 apg/2.5 bpg/1.5 spg) but Parker put on an absolute clinic, albeit against Daniel Gibson and Damon Jones. Highlighting his Finals MVP award is more to appreciate the kind of talent he was.

2- Parker was a pretty ridiculous playoff performer for a good decade. He wasn't going to average 30 a night (nobody was on that team) but he was as reliable a scoring option as you could find from the point guard position every night and on good efficiency. Being on the small side hurt at end of games but he still made some critical shots over his postseason career.

Legit all star

everybody knows my opinion about tp9....

UDRIH14 wrote:everybody knows my opinion about tp9....

Not me. Let's hear it

Fantastic player that didn't get enough fan attention because he didn't do things that the superstar PGs we're used to seeing do (shoot 3s, fancy dribbles etc.)

His floater was deadly and was a tremendous performer under pressure, winning the finals MVP and leading his national team to a European Championship

BARON DAVIS OVER PARKER ANY SECONDS

Mauro Pedrosa wrote:Fantastic player that didn't get enough fan attention because he didn't do things that the superstar PGs we're used to seeing do (shoot 3s, fancy dribbles etc.)

His floater was deadly and was a tremendous performer under pressure, winning the finals MVP and leading his national team to a European Championship

HE NEVER SUCCESS IN OLYMPIC