Tony Parker says he wants to play another 6 seasons before retirement
San Antonio Spurs point guard Tony Parker plans to hang up his sneakers after another six seasons in the league.
That would see a 38-year-old say goodbye to the league after two decades with at least four championship rings in hand.
"The Spurs know I want to play until I'm 38," Parker told Marc Spears of Yahoo Sports. "That will be 20 seasons for me. That's my goal. This year is No. 15. And if I'm lucky enough and I'm healthy, hopefully I can play 20 seasons and then I'll be ready to retire."
The 33-year-old Frenchman has three more seasons on his current contract and has informed the Spurs' front office that he would like a three-year deal thereafter before saying goodbye.
Health concerns, however, could keep Parker from reaching his goal. The six-time All-Star is coming off his worst season since his rookie campaign and has constantly battled bouts of injury.
Parker finished with averages of 14.4 points and 4.9 assists in 28.7 minutes across 68 games played. Those figures dipped to 10.9 points and 3.6 rebounds in the postseason, and Parker shot just 36.3 percent from the floor in the Spurs' seven-game series loss to the Los Angeles Clippers.
In an effort to maintain his health, Parker sought out the advice of retired point guard Steve Nash, who remained effective through his age-38 season before Nash's degenerative back condition forced him to retire.
Parker learned the importance of routine from Nash.
"The main thing I learned is to do the routine every day. When you're young you want to go out and play right away. But it doesn't happen like that for me anymore. You have to make sure that you do all the exercises even when you feel good."
To that end, Parker modeled his offseason routine after the ageless Tim Duncan, who remains tremendously effective even as his clock slowly ticks towards 40.
And if everything goes according to plan, Parker will join Duncan in a long line of lifetime Spurs as he rides off into the sunset in 2021.
"It's very rare for any player in any sport - soccer, football, baseball - to play their whole career with the same team," Parker said. "So it would definitely mean a lot to me to do like David Robinson and Timmy and Manu (Ginobili). It would be great to be a part of the history of being with the same team."