Parker may end up breaking hearts

PLAYING VS PH NBA basketball star Tony Parker arrives in Manila to play for France against the Philippines in the Fiba Olympic qualifying tournament. RAFFY LERMA

MOBBED the moment he arrived in the country, NBA superstar Tony Parker instantly felt—right at the airport, even at past midnight Friday—how passionate Filipino basketball fans can get.

So Parker wonders how it would be like when his fancied French team battles Gilas Pilipinas at the start of the Olympic Qualifying Tournament (OQT) tomorrow.

“I can’t wait for Tuesday and feel the energy,” said Parker.

The veteran San Antonio Spurs point guard, of course, isn’t out to please the local fans. In fact, Parker may end up breaking their hearts as France, the tournament top seed, intends to claim the OQT’s lone ticket to the 2016 Rio Olympics.

“It’s my last time playing with the national team,” Parker said in a press conference arranged by Asian sports brand Peak yesterday at Sofitel Philippine Plaza.

“I’ve been enjoying every moment, having an unbelievable career with the French team. Hopefully, I can finish on a great note and help us qualify for Rio.”

But Parker isn’t taking Gilas Pilipinas—which is bunched with France and New Zealand in Group B—any lightly than the other tournament favorites

“They’re very dangerous,” Parker said of the Philippine team, mentored by Tab Baldwin and bannered by June Mar Fajardo, Marc Pingris and Andray Blatche.

“Every team is dangerous. We respect everybody.”

The Philippines takes on France at 9 p.m. tomorrow at Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay.

Parker, a four-time NBA champion, also managed to get a peek of their opening-day foe when the French team watched parts of Gilas’ tuneup-game loss to Turkey, 84-76, Friday night.

“In general, they just play hard,” Parker said of the Philippine squad. “And I think that’s what we also have to do on Tuesday—to play hard, because they have the whole country behind them.”