Rarely do we see San Antonio Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich wear his emotions on his sleeve, but he made an exemption for Tony Parker on Monday.

The multi-titled franchise honored one of its best players to ever don the Spurs colors, shortly after the team’s 109-113 defeat to the Memphis Grizzlies at the AT&T Center.

A teary-eyed coach Pop had nothing but kind words during Parker’s jersey retirement ceremony, as he recalled how he gave the then 19-year-old Frenchmen the keys to the Spurs franchise when they drafted him 28th overall in the 2001 Draft.

“But more than anything, Tony Parker was someone who cared for his teammates, he cared about the community, he cared about basketball, he cared about his friends. And now, his wonderful, beautiful family,” Pop said.

Parker orchestrated the Spurs’ dynasty in the early 2000s’ winning four NBA titles under Popovich’s guidance. He had six All-Star appearances and was named Finals MVP in 2007.

He announced his retirement from basketball in the offseason, after spending one year with the Charlotte Hornets.

 

Follow ClutchPoints on Twitter & Instagram, and like us on Facebook. We can also be found on Flipboard where you can subscribe and follow us.

All of our NBA content can be found on the NBA section of the ClutchPoints home page here. For all of our college basketball content, click here.

 

Follow NBA games live by downloading the ClutchPoints App and heading to the scores tab under the NBA section.

You can listen and subscribe to the Battle for LA podcast on Apple PodcastsSpotify, and Soundcloud. You can also find new episodes of Battle for LA, the ClutchPoints NBA Podcast, and Establish the Pass under the Podcast tab on the ClutchPoints home page.