Spurs' Tony Parker on changing his role: 'I am fine with it'
San Antonio might be chasing point guard like Mike Conley this summer
•
1 min read
This season, San Antonio Spurs guard Tony Parker had the lowest usage rate and scoring average since he was a rookie, and he averaged the fewest minutes of his career. The addition of LaMarcus Aldridge and emergence of Kawhi Leonard meant that Parker, who turned 34 in May, no longer needed to be much more than a game manager on offense.
Parker has never been one to complain about his role, and it could be reduced even more next season. The Spurs have been linked to Memphis Grizzlies point guard Mike Conley in free agency. Signing Conley would mean that Parker would move to the bench, which would be weird -- he has been San Antonio's starting point guard since November 2001, a week into his career.
In an interview with the San Antonio Express-News' Jeff McDonald, Parker said he's not worried any of this:
Parker said he harbors no concerns about his future role, reiterating that his job is only to please coach Gregg Popovich.
"We talked about it all year long," Parker said. "I am fine with it (a changing role), and going forward it's going to be like that. As long as Pop is happy, I'm good."
This offseason, Parker is the least of the Spurs' concerns. Tim Duncan and Manu Ginobili need to figure out whether they are coming back, and San Antonio needs to add some youth and athleticism in free agency. The Spurs were phenomenal on their way to 67 regular-season wins, and yet the roster could look significantly different in a few weeks.
Through 15 seasons, Parker's consistency has been a marvel. There was some worry that his body had broken down after disappointing performances in last year's playoffs and EuroBasket, but he was solid yet again this year. At some point, though, the Spurs need to find their point guard of the future. If they can get Conley, then they absolutely should. Parker is smart enough to understand the position that the organization is in.
