SAN ANTONIO – Spurs point guard Tony Parker may be done playing internationally for the French national team, but he has no plans of ending his career with the Spurs anytime soon.
Parker announced his retirement from the French team on Wednesday after France lost to Spain in the quarterfinals of the Rio Olympics.
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He spoke to USA Today’s Jeff Zillgitt and reflected on his international career and future.
"We brought French basketball on the map,” Parker told USA Today. “As a French player I'm very proud of what we did in my generation, winning all those medals.”
Parker won a European championship in 2013 but never won an Olympic medal.
He has been a part of four NBA championship teams in San Antonio and wants to continue that part of his basketball life.
"I want to end my Spurs career on a high note. I want to play five more years," Parker said.
Parker is 34 years old and will enter his 16th season with San Antonio this year. His current deal expires at the end of the 2018 season.
If he indeed does play five more years, that would take his NBA career through the 2021 season and make him a Spurs player for 20 years, one more than Tim Duncan’s 19 seasons.
It would also tie Kobe Bryant for first on the list of NBA players who have spent their entire career with one team.
Parker’s stats dropped last season as the Spurs offense centered around Kawhi Leonard and LaMarcus Aldridge, but he remains a valuable piece of the roster and is now the longest tenured Spurs player on the roster after Duncan’s retirement.
Whether he remains part of the Spurs roster until 2021 remains to be seen.