SAN ANTONIO (AP) – Tahasang pinasalamatan ni Tony Parker si Tim Duncan bilang arketekto sa Spurs Culture, gayundin ang kontribusyon ni David Robinson at ang pagpapahalaga ni coach Gregg Popovich.

Matapos ang 17 season sa Spurs, lalaro si Parker sa bagong kampo ng Charlotte Hornets. Sa kabila nito, walang sama ng loob ang 36-anyos na na Frenchman at pinasalamatan ang lahat nang nakasama Spurs partikular si Duncan na itinuturin niyang “greatest teammate”.

“I tell people, always, that this wasn’t magic. I tell them that we had an elite coaching staff, an elite training staff, sure. I tell them that we obviously had a one-of-a-kind head coach in Pop,” pahayag ni Parker sa sulat na inilathala ng The Players Tribune.

“But if you want to know the thing that set us apart the most in these situations? It’s Timmy, man. It really was Timmy. Simple as that.

“You see this all-world player, this All-NBA First Team, MVP of the Finals, about to be MVP of the league guy, and here he is in practice, willing to be coached like he’s fighting for a spot on the team. It was unreal. And if you think that’s too passive for a star player to be? Well, then you’re not thinking it through on Tim’s level. Because Tim knew the truth: which was that to let himself be coached in this way, you know … that’s true charisma, and that’s true swagger. It’s like he was challenging everyone else in our gym: The best player in the entire league is willing to put his ego aside for the good of this team — are you?

“And that was the deal, you know? Guys would come in, take a look around, and eventually they would do as Tim does,” Parker wrote.

“That was Spurs Culture.”

Iginiit ni Parker na naging madali ang lahat sa Spurs dahil sa maayos na samahan, sa pangunguna ni hall-of-famer Robinson.

“With a guy like David … I mean, it was just amazing to see. You have this first-ballot Hall of Famer, and he’s in the middle of another championship run — and yet somehow he is not viewing me, this young guy getting brought along at the same time, as a burden. With David, and with the other veteran players on the Spurs, it always felt like this was just the natural way of things. Everyone had their expectation of winning championships. But then they also had this other responsibility, that they valued just as much, of, like … leaving the team in better shape than when they found it. And that’s Spurs Culture, to me, you know? Fulfilling your expectations, while also making room for this larger responsibility to the whole.”