The French basketball legend doesn’t have the best relationship with his brother.
Legend of French basketball, Tony Parker has little left to prove in the pantheon of sport, whether national or global. But for several years, the former NBA player of the San Antonio Spurs has also been a businessman and has been busy managing his businesses. And he is never far from the world of sport, since Tony Parker is president and majority shareholder of the ASVEL club in France.
The Lyon-Villeurbanne basketball club was until recently a small family affair, because his brother, TJ Parker, was also the head coach. But unfortunately for the latter, the results were not up to par and his brother did not hesitate… to fire him! The separation took place in 2023 and was rather stormy.
For TJ Parker, the situation was difficult to cope with and it would have left a real chill between the two brothers. TJ Parker notably claimed to have learned of his dismissal through the media while he was preparing for a Euroleague match.
“Tony denied it and initially told me: ‘We’ll continue like this,’ but the next day at 5 p.m., it was over,” he recounts in the columns of L’Équipe. “I was disappointed by the way. How can you do that to someone, without even talking about trophies, who has sacrificed everything for eleven years for a club?”
Even if he understands this dismissal on the merits, TJ Parker still explained that his relationship with Tony Parker had been a little “affected” by this decision. “We don’t see each other much anymore. But that’s how it is, that’s life. And the calendars make it complicated anyway. Now, everyone is moving forward on their own,” declared the discreet brother of TP .
TJ Parker is now an assistant coach for the Austin Spurs, the G-League team, and he dreams of one day coaching in the NBA, a real ambition that he wants to achieve on his own, not because he is the brother of. “He doesn’t like being called ‘Parker’, he wants to be called ‘Pierre’ because he doesn’t want to take advantage of his brothers’ achievements,” says Emmanuel Mavomo, another French assistant in Austin, recently interviewed by Le Monde.
“I have never liked the light. Being in the shadows, doing my job and seeing the people around me succeed, that suits me well” confirms the one who notably trains Sidy Cissoko, the Frenchman selected for the summer 2023 by the Spurs alongside a certain Victor Wembanyama.