This feels pretty bizarre to type, but Tony Parker is no longer the starting point guard for the San Antonio Spurs.
Parker, 35, is in his 17th season with the Spurs and has essentially been the starting point guard the entirety of his career, but due to his decline as a player and his drop in effectiveness while attempting to fully recover from a quad injury suffered in the 2nd round of the 2017 NBA Playoffs, Parker has officially been moved to the bench in favor of second-year guard Dejounte Murray.
Parker played well in 20 minutes off of the bench on Sunday, with 12 points, five assists and three rebounds in the Spurs 94-86 loss to the Indiana Pacers.
He handled his demotion with nothing but class, what else would you expect from a San Antonio Spur.
Here is what he told Todd Osborn of the San Antonio News Express:
“Pop told me,” Parker said. “He told me he thought it was time, and I was like, ‘No problem.’ Just like Manu (Ginobili), just like Pau (Gasol), you know that day is going to come,” Parker said, via Osborn. “If Pop sees something that is good for the team, I will try to do my best…I will support Pop’s decision, and I will try to help DJ as best as I can and try to be the best I can in that second unit with Manu and Patty (Mills).”
The Spurs are starving for more youth, athleticism, quickness and length with Kawhi Leonard out indefinitely and an aging roster, Murray brings all of those things although he is still pretty green and has only played 17.8 minutes per game this season to this point.
The Spurs now officially have the most historically renowned bench unit in NBA history, with two possible future hall of famers in Parker and fellow Spurs legend Manu Ginobili.
It it pretty crazy to think that Parker has been the starting point guard for the Spurs for the past 17 seasons almost exclusively, it may be the longest stretch for any point guard in NBA history with one team as John Stockton started for the Utah Jazz the final 16 seasons of his career after coming off of the bench his first three.
