(Reuters) -NBA Hall of Famer Tony Parker will take his first plunge into coaching after he was named France’s Under-17 coach for next year’s World Cup by the French Basketball Federation on Friday.
The former point guard won four championships with San Antonio Spurs during his 18-season NBA career before retiring in 2019 and helped France win their first EuroBasket title in 2013.
The 43-year-old Parker, whose number nine jersey was retired by Spurs and France, said the appointment felt like a natural starting point for his coaching ambitions.
“I had talked a lot about this new career with my father, how I would start it, and it seemed logical to both of us to start with the French national team and a French youth team,” Parker told L’Equipe.
“So I applied for the position of Under-17 coach and, symbolically, on my father’s birthday, October 15, the French Basketball Federation called me and told me I had the job.”
Parker will lead the French youth team at the FIBA Under-17 World Cup in Istanbul, Turkey from June 27 to July 5, 2026.
(Reporting by Rohith Nair in Bengaluru; Editing by Ken Ferris)
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