Is Tony Parker a Superstar?

[brianjohnson123]

yes or no as of right now

[aal04]

Super player. Not a superstar.

[Colbinii]

Super player. Not a superstar.

Superstar combines Super Player with a Super Media Outlet. Parker is only the first, and damn good at it.

[DirtyDez]

Parker is the perfect example of difference between a star and being 'elite'. Top 10 player, probably, but not in LBJ/KD/CP3's/Kobe's class...

[nunemouse]

He has a strong case for being the 4th best player (maybe even top 3 depending on how far Spurs go) in the league.

[kaima]

With the hand-check? Not a chance. Without it? He certainly improves...perhaps he "would" be if you added the softer defense to a pure D'Antoni PHX setup. We certainly saw Nash jump from a solid player to a much-beloved superstar player with these favorable factors in his corner.

A rather quick way to measure the shift between eras -- i.e. the post-handcheck NBA -- is through PPS (Points Per Shot). It's certainly not perfect in Parker's case, because it's questionable how close to prime he was in the years when the handcheck was still legal, but as an aggregate filter for the league it provides startling evidence of how 1) much better perimeter offensive players have it and 2) how perimeter defensive players have been defenestrated.

In Parker's case, he went from 1.16 PPS a to a 1.27 PPS -- while the volume is not there for Parker, the PPS number is within range of what would historically be called "superstar" whereas, with the tougher defensive rules, he was below par in both instances.. But not only is Parker not a volume scorer, he's also not a classic facilitation guard; contrast that to the great facilitation guards historically, like Stockton and Magic, and he comes up quite short (those two managed aggregate offensive production between 46-48 PPG at their peaks, while Parker provides something in the realm of 35 PPG at peak).

In the playoffs Parker's PPS with handchecking was 1.08, yet when the physical defense was stultified he managed a PPS of 1.119 in the postseason -- a number better than what he had in the regular season during his time in the handcheck era. Another startling jump, though rather typical for guards (as intended).

Parker is anything but alone in feasting on the far more brittle defenses of the present -- Nash, as mentioned, jumped 9 points in PPS after the change (though to be fair, Nash had a 1.29 average before the change, which is already a great PPS for anyone) -- and that's the point and problem for Parker: he's gotten much better thanks to favorable rules, but there are many, many guards that are taking advantage of the soft perimeter. What Parker is doing is very good, but not much better than that with these rules.

[Sildegil]

He is a superstar, definitly.

About the "super media outlet", he was dating Eva Longoria longer enough to compensate being a "boring" spurs.

[tsherkin]

He's very much not a superstar.

Not dominant enough individually and too poor a postseason performer to qualify under any reasonable definition.

Good player, but you'd have to broaden the definition of 'superstar' way too much to include him.

[penbeast0]

Tony Parker is a good consistent player having a very good season on a very good team. IF that's your definition of a superstar, okay. I think it's safe to say he's a star in this league but I can't see him as a superstar.

[lorak]

A rather quick way to measure the shift between eras -- i.e. the post-handcheck NBA -- is through PPS (Points Per Shot). It's certainly not perfect in Parker's case, because it's questionable how close to prime he was in the years when the handcheck was still legal, but as an aggregate filter for the league it provides startling evidence of how 1) much better perimeter offensive players have it and 2) how perimeter defensive players have been defenestrated.

In Parker's case, he went from 1.16 PPS a to a 1.27 PPS

Yeah, lets ignore that before '05 Parker played only 3 seasons and basically was a teenager with no NCAA experience. Not to mention PPS is so crappy stat it's not surprising you are the only one person who is using it.

[john248]

I put him somewhere between a superstar and all-star. There's only 4 or 5 superstars in the league, and he's not on their level.