Tony Parker Wants to Play in NBA Until He’s 38 Years Old

Tony Parker Wants to Play in NBA Until He’s 38 Years Old
Zachary Stieber
3/3/2015
Updated:
7/18/2015

Tony Parker, despite his struggles this season, plans to try to play in the NBA until he’s 38 years old.

Parker, 32, has had a rough season as the San Antonio Spurs try to win games to stay ahead of the Oklahoma City Thunder and New Orleans Pelicans.

Dan McCarney of the San Antonio Express-News says that Parker’s plan is to play with the French team this summer, play at the EuroBasket in 2015, and the 2016 Olympics in Brazil before retiring from international play. Parker then wants to keep playing in the NBA until age 38, when he would retire. 

That information comes after Parker told Yahoo that he “has not been the same” since he came back from injury this season. “It’s still bothering me,” he said. “Everybody knows. I am not going to use that as an excuse. I am just going to work it out until it gets better.”

Parker returned from injury perhaps sooner then he should have because the Spurs are in the thick of the Western Conference playoff race, and in some danger of falling to the eighth seed of out of the race entirely. 

We’re trying to go to the Finals for the third straight time. It’s not just repeat. It’s a third time to the Finals. It’s hard. We went to the conference finals the last three times, seven times in 13 years. …No one is satisfied with our team,” Parker said.

“We always try to push for better. If I were satisfied, I would have relaxed when I was 29.” A scout noted that Parker is one of the guys in the league that only rests if he’s actually hurt, unlike some of the players out there nowadays.

“I am just trying to work it through it,” Parker said. “Hopefully, it will be good pretty soon. At the same time, it’s tough because the whole team is struggling and I’m struggling. It’s a tough time right now.”