Hornets guard Tony Parker plans to retire with the Spurs

Although Tony Parker is now with the Charlotte Hornets, in his first interview after leaving San Antonio, Parker said he plans to retire with the Spurs.

Tony Parker may have moved on from the San Antonio Spurs as a basketball player, but his heart is still in the Alamo City.

In his first interview since leaving the team and city in which he has known his whole career, Parker said that, although he is committed to helping his new team, the Charlotte Hornets, compete in the wide-open East, he has plans to end his NBA career with the Spurs.

When asked by Hupu.com if he would retire with the team that made him into a star, Parker didn’t hesitate with his answer.

“Yes, I will retire a Spurs player.”

That should bring some small comfort to the ultra-loyal Spurs fanbase, who were heartbroken when Parker decided to sign a two-year, $10 million deal with the Hornets this summer. The signing came to a shock to not just San Antonio, but to the NBA as a whole.

Granted, no one in their wildest dreams would believe that Parker would play for any other team but the Spurs, but with talent on the tail-end of its useful life, and the Spurs making a commitment to get younger, Parker saw that his role with the Spurs would be more of a mentor role than as an active contributor to the team.

Parker still felt like he could strongly contribute, and so when the Hornets offer came along, it was an opportunity he simply couldn’t pass up. In Charlotte, he’ll play the role of the sixth man, backing up Kemba Walker and playing more minutes than what he would have seen in San Antonio.

Given that, his heart is, and will forever be with the Spurs, and it’s only fitting that he should end his career with the Silver and Black.