Spurs great Tony Parker agrees to become France’s under-17 men’s basketball head coach

Former San Antonio Spurs star Tony Parker was recently going through his late father’s belongings when he came across an interesting list.

Tony Parker Sr. wrote a list of goals he hoped his three sons would reach in their lifetimes. Parker Sr. wanted Tony, his eldest son, to become a coach with the French national team and the NBA.

The Naismith Basketball Hall of Famer checked one goal off his father’s wish list by agreeing to become head coach of France’s under-17 men’s basketball team participating in the 2026 FIBA Under-17 Basketball World Cup.

“When I went through his notes after he passed away, one of his notes was top 10 goals for his kids,” Parker told Andscape in a phone interview. “And when it came to me, it was coaching in the NBA and coaching the national team. That’s what he put on goals for me. So, it gives me a great inspiration and great motivation to follow this dream. …

“I want to give back because I miss the court. I miss the adrenaline, the challenge, the drive to win something. The front office is fun, but it’s not the same as being on the court.”

Parker averaged 15.5 points and 5.6 assists per game in 16 NBA seasons with the Spurs and one with the Charlotte Hornets before retiring in 2019. The six-time NBA All-Star won four NBA championships alongside fellow Hall of Famers Tim Duncan and Manu Ginobili. The 2007 NBA Finals Most Valuable Player was the first European to win that honor and also was a four-time All-NBA selection.

With France, Parker won a gold medal in 2013 FIBA EuroBasket and a bronze in the 2006 FIBA World Cup. During his youth, he won a gold medal at the 2000 FIBA Under-18 championships with France. Parker will be coaching the French at the Under-17 World Cup in Istanbul, Turkey, from June 29-July 7, 2026. The French Under-17 team is expected to include projected future NBA prospect Nathan Soliman, whose father, William, played with Tony Parker on the French national team.

Parker, who will be a head coach for the first time, has flirted with the idea of coaching for more than a year. He talked to legendary former Spurs head coach and Hall of Famer Gregg Popovich, who advised him to “be all in” as a coach. Parker also had numerous conversations with his father about it.

Parker said he has turned down opportunities to be an assistant coach in the NBA, but he plans to pursue other coaching opportunities after the Under-17 World Cup.

“It has been a year that we’ve been talking about [coaching],” Parker said about his father. “And I told him that I was missing the court. And he’s the one who was like, ‘Let’s go. Let’s coach. Let’s go on the court, help those kids. And with all that knowledge that you have, let’s put it to use.’ It’s been great what I did with winning all those championships and been great what I did with the academy, but it’s not the same as being on the court.

“And so, my dad was like, ‘Let’s do it.’ That’s why it’s funny that on his birthday, October 15, I got the call that I got the job.”

Parker said he is in the process of earning a mandatory French coaching certificate. He also plans on spending time with the coaching staffs of the New York Knicks and Spain’s Real Madrid this season. Parker’s hope is to eventually coach in the NBA or in Europe.

“I felt like this is the best way to start and to honor my father,” Parker said. “The national team was how I started my playing career, playing the European Championship when I was 14 years old. I thought it was pretty cool to start with the Under-17s, especially with everything I do in my academy, and then go with professionals.”

Parker is the major stakeholder for French basketball club LDLC ASVEL in Lyon, France, which he expects to be a part of NBA Europe when it launches. He is also the major stakeholder for Lyon Basket Feminine, a member of the French Women’s Basketball League. Parker also owns Villard-de-Lans ski resort in the French Alps and owns Chateau La Mascaronne in Provence, France. He also has The Tony Parker Adequat Academy in Lyon that combines basketball and e-sports training with traditional high school and university-level academics.

So how will Parker juggle coaching and his business endeavors?

“I’ll delegate to my team right now,” Parker said. “I’m building a great team to make sure that they take care of all my businesses, the wine business or my ski resort business, all of my businesses. My team will run it because I know I’m going to be full time on this because it takes your whole attention. It takes full time. If you want to be successful at the highest level, it is going to take the same commitment that I had as a player.”

Parker Sr. died unexpectedly on Oct. 5 at the age of 70. The Chicago native was a former University of Loyola (Ill.) guard who played professionally in the Netherlands, Belgium and France. Parker Sr. also was a popular television color analyst for NBA games shown in France in the 1990s.

There was a memorial service for Parker Sr. in Chicago on Oct. 26. Former Spurs star David Robinson, who played with the younger Tony Parker, gave the eulogy. Other notables in attendance included Duncan, soccer legend Thierry Henry, actress Eva Longoria and former NBA players Joakim Noah, Boris Diaw and Ronny Turiaf. Parker Sr. was also recently memorialized by his old club Denain Voltaire Basket in Denain, France.

“My dad was my hero. He was my inspiration,” Tony Parker said. “I have up and downs right now for sure, and it will stay like that for a while.”

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