INTERVIEW : ANTHONY PARKERInterview by: Jeff McMenamin HTV: What was life like growing up in Naperville, Illinois? PARKER: Life was good man. You know Naperville was named one of the best places to live in either Money or Forbes magazine so I couldn't complain. HTV: You have a great basketball family -- your dad played at the University of Iowa, your sister Candace is doing her thing in the WNBA and of course you're in the NBA. Have you and Candace been pushing each other ever since you were young? PARKER: No, you know I'm 11 years older than Candace so we've never really had that sibling rivalry. It's always just been me being older, but she's really been coming into her own the past couple years and I'm really happy for her. It's never been us competing growing up or anything like that. HTV: Have you ever taken on Candace in a game of one-on-one? PARKER: No, it doesn't really happen that much. I mean we'll fool around together every now and than, but it's not like we play a serious one-on-one. HTV: You played high school ball at Naperville Central in Illinois. Talk about your high school basketball experience there. PARKER: It was good. Naperville Central is a great academic school that prepared you for college both academically and basketball wise. It was okay. HTV: Why did you decide to attend Bradley University? PARKER: Well I wanted to commit early and I didn't really want to worry about getting an injury or anything like that my senior year. I wanted some place that I could go to right away and play and also some place that was relatively close to home. My family had been a big part of my basketball career up to that point and I wanted that to continue. Bradley was driving distance from Naperville and my parents were able to make most of my home games. HTV: How good did it feel to be honored as part of the All-Century team for Bradley? PARKER: It was a great honor. Bradley has a lot of tradition and a lot of good history of basketball and to be recognized like that is just a great honor. HTV: Who was the toughest player you had to guard in college? PARKER: I don't know. First of all it was a long time ago, but there isn't really one player that jumps out. There were a lot of good players that came through. I played against Stephon Marbury, Brent Barry when he was at Oregon State, a young Rip Hamilton but it was his freshman year so there's no one player that jumps out. Plus we didn't play North Carolina or any teams like that. HTV: During your first go around with the NBA, you did not have an easy time over those three years. How tough was it to play through the injuries you had? PARKER: It was tough you know, I really only had one injury. That was back when they had the injured list and to be on the injured list you had to have some kind of injury. I did break my foot one year but other than that it was just not getting the opportunity to play which is equally as difficult to deal with. HTV: Do you feel as if the Sixers and Magic understood what you were going through, or did those teams just not want to wait for you to get healthy? PARKER: It's not about understanding what I'm going through, it's just me fitting in to what they're trying to do at that time and obviously that wasn't the case. HTV: What went through your head upon finding out the Magic had cut you? PARKER: Well it was a situation where they were going to try to put me back on the injured list and at that point you know I was probably going to be on it for the rest of the year. It was a situation where I refused to go back on the injured list so they could waive me and I could try to get some experience and some confidence playing in the CBA to try to make a team the next summer. HTV: How long did you think over the opportunity to join Maccabi Tel Aviv in Israel before finally deciding to go play international ball? PARKER: It was a tough decision. I had just gotten married less than a year or a little over a year before so it wasn't just me going, it was me taking my wife and you know I hadn't ever really been out of the United States. At the same time though it was an opportunity and I was excited. The more I learned about the opportunity the more excited I got and it turned out to be a great decision. HTV: Were there ever any moments wher you felt your life was in danger while you were in Israel because of the ongoing military conflict in that area of the world? PARKER: No not really. It was a difficult time and there were some bombings and things like that but there were no real close calls or anything. It was an adjustment though and you definitely develop some thick skin from it. HTV: At what point playing in Israel did you feel like you were back to the form you were at while playing at Bradley? PARKER: I don't know I mean when I first got there I hadn't really played for three years and it was more about me trying to figure out what I used to do well and than improving on the things that I didn't do so well and Maccabi gave me that opportunity and I was able to play some of my best basketball over there. HTV: Why did you decide to go play in Italy for Lottomatica Roma for one season? PARKER: Well my wife was pregnant and we wanted to have our first child around family and friends and I wanted to make sure I was there. She didn't really feel comfortable having the baby overseas and all that stuff so we made the decision to take a half-year off, and I ended up signing with Roma for the remainder of that year. HTV: Were any teammates or fans from Israel angry about your departure from the team? PARKER: No everybody completely understood. It was always family first for me and I think everybody identified that and the following year I went back to Maccabi so I think all was forgiven. HTV: How much did you miss playing for Israel when you went to Italy? PARKER: You know I enjoyed my time in Rome too. It was exciting to get an opportunity to play in Rome and it is some place me and my wife hadn't been to. So it was good to experience that and to play in the Italian League which is a very strong league every year. We obviously got the opportunity to go back to Maccabi so I could play. Maccabi in Europe has always had a great tradition and to be a part of that was fun so get the opportunity to go back was a great opportunity. HTV: When you came back to Israel you accomplished some great feats. Tell me a little bit about winning both the Israeli championships as well as the Euroleague Championship three times? PARKER: The Israeli League is kind of weird with Maccabi because you're almost expected to win and if you don't win than it's a big disappointment. Winning the Israeli League was more of a relief. The Euroleague was just an amazing experience. My first year there it had been around 20 years since they had won a European Championship. We won it in Paris and it was just a crazy, crazy experience. My first year I was going there to get back to the NBA and after that I kind of liked how things were there and it really influenced me to extend my stay and not try to make a run to come back to the NBA so soon. HTV: How is the style of play different in Europe as opposed to the NBA? PARKER: Well it's the rules. The rules are what makes the NBA and Europe so different. You know traveling and obviously defensively what you can and can't do. In Europe anything goes, but here we have the defensive 3-seconds violation. The way the refs call fouls is different; what's a charge and what's not you know those kinds of things makes it a different game. The three point line being closer, the length of the game, how big the court is, all of those things influence how different it is. In the NBA and the way the rules are you can be a little bit more one-on-one and get to the basket and teams put a premium on players like that, while in Europe your almost forced out of the rules and to move the ball around and do things like that so it forces you to play in more of a team setting. HTV: What are the fans like in Europe compared to fans here in the United States? PARKER: It's just crazier. They allow you to bring in the flags and the drums and the trumpets and the flares and stuff like that into the stands. It's kind of more of that soccer influence on the fans and that kind of carries over into basketball. So they're very passionate. HTV: After having such a great career in Europe, why did you decide to come back to the NBA? PARKER: Well it was just a great opportunity. I figured I had a great run in Maccabi and that I had accomplished everything, plus it was just a long time to be over there and away from family and friends. You know my sister had gone through High School and College and there were just a lot of things going on and you just get that urge to first and foremost come back for family and friends and than also basketball wise it was just another opportunity for me to try to play and thank god I got an opportunity with Toronto to do that. HTV: Your return to the NBA could be compared to Mickey Rourke's return to acting. You instantly made an impact, after being away from the League for so long. Did it feel good to finally after six years overseas and show the NBA how good of a player you are? PARKER: It was never about trying to come back and prove anything to anyone or myself. Just to have an opportunity to be in the NBA and be on a roster and to actually contribute to a team was a good feeling. I was certainly content with what happened overseas and playing over there. It wasn't like I was trying to come back and prove anything to myself or anybody else but it was just a great blessing to have the opportunity to come back and play. HTV: While you were playing in Europe, a lot of European players came to the NBA. Is this something that you were happy to see when you came back? PARKER: I think it just speaks to the competition and while I was over there you saw kind of the evolution of people's feelings about European basketball. It went from out of sight out of mind we don't know what's going on in Europe, to really paying attention to what's going on and the World Games and the Olympics and things like that had a lot to do with people thinking, "alright, there's a high level of basketball being played over there". It brought a little bit more respect to the players and the type of basketball that's being played over in Europe. HTV: Did you play against any of the Euopean guys who are now in the NBA while you were in Israel or Italy? PARKER: Yeah, we got a chance to play against some of the players that came out to the NBA such as Andrei Kirilenko, Jose Calderon, Luis Scola, and Francisco Oberto. Some players like those have stuck and some others haven't. I think you'll continue to see an influx of players from Europe to the NBA. Maybe not to the degree that we saw four or five years ago but certainly there's a lot of talented players all around the world and not just here in the states. HTV: What about the NBA has changed the most since your first stint in the League? PARKER: I think it's just gotten so much younger. I think that's all I'd say is the youth. HTV: What was your NBA Playoffs experience like with the Raptors? PARKER: It was great. In my first year with the team, we hadn't made the playoffs as a franchise in I don't know how many years so the city of Toronto was excited and it was definitely a great experience to be a part of it all. You grew up watching it and to be a part of it was great. HTV: Do you think hockey crazy Toronto is starting to become a little bit more of a basketball town since the Raptors went to the playoffs the last two years? PARKER: I wouldn't go that far yet but I definitely think there's a lot more interest in us in Toronto. Basketball's certainly a growing sport in Canada and not just Toronto. HTV: What is different about playing for a team located in Canada as compared to playing for one based in the United States? PARKER: On the court I don't really think too much. The fans are great and they're really supportive. I don't really think too much is different. I like the city and I think that everyone that's been in Toronto and played there has had nothing but good things to say about the city. So I don't really think there's too much, you know other than the traveling and having to bring the passports. HTV: Toronto has had a tough season this year, how much does not having Chris Bosh healthy hurt the team? PARKER: You know when Chris is injured I mean, what team doesn't miss their star player? We definitely miss him when he's not out there. Plus we've been through a lot of changes and it's certainly been a tough year. HTV: The acquisition of Shawn Marion at trade deadline hasn't brought the team the success just yet that the front office had hoped. Do you think the Raptors will re-sign him in the off-season? PARKER: We'll see I mean with the way this seasons gone there's definitely going to be some changes and this is an opportunity for the organization to get a look at him and to see if what he brings to the table is in their plans going forward. Everybody knows what he can do and what he brings to the table. He's a great defensive player who gets in there, he blocks shots, he can run the break, he brings versatility and athleticism, and he finishes around the basket well so if that's something they want going forward than he's certainly the guy to keep around. HTV: What did you think of LeBron James the first time you got to play against him? PARKER: Just what a gifted player and athlete he is. You know to be that size and to do the things he does out there on the court is amazing. HTV: What do you see in the future of both the Raptors as well as yourself? PARKER: We'll see. You know that's certainly a question for Mr. Colangelo and I don't even know that he knows what exactly he's going to do. Certainly the goal is to win and that hasn't happened this year so things will probably be shaken up a little bit for next year.
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