Tony Parker To Work Towards NBA Coaching Job

Tony Parker is hoping to find his way back to the NBA, this time as a coach, writes David Loriot for L’Equipe. This involves enrolling in a coaching course, according to Kevin Martorano of Sportando.

Parker, the 18-year NBA veteran, four-time champion, and 2007 NBA Finals MVP, has been president of the French team ASVEL since 2014. In that time, the team has rostered NBA players such as Guerschon Yabusele and former no. one overall picks Victor Wembanyama and Zaccharie Risacher.

Now, though, Parker says he wants to step away from his front office position and familiarize himself with the rigors of coaching life.

“My dream is to coach in the NBA,” Parker said in an interview with L’Equipe.

To do so, Parker is working to obtain his DESJEPS  degree, or Higher State Diploma of Youth, Popular Education and Sport, along with a secondary degree, the DEPB or Professional Basketball Coach Diploma, which he will likely receive in May 2026.

After Parker was a surprise guest for the ASVEL under-15 team on Thursday, running the team through training, he spoke on what that experience meant to him.

“It confirms what I’ve been feeling since last year: I missed the court,” he said. “The adrenaline, the daily grind, I missed all of that. I think it’s the right timing for me. I’ve been retired from sport for six years and I feel it inside me.”

In the lead-up to this decision, Parker said he spoke with his former coach Gregg Popovich, as well as French sports legends Zinedine Zidane and Thierry Henry, all of whom imparted advice.

“Last October, after my first discussion with Pop, I felt this strong desire. I asked him for advice, the Spurs opened the doors to me in January, February, March, where I was able to observe everything over seven or ten days,” he said, before adding that Zidane and Henry helped convince him to obtain his coaching degree.

“I don’t need it to coach in the NBA,” Parker reflected with a smile. “But I said to myself, why not go back to school?”

Parker added that he’s been approached by several clubs (presumably NBA teams), but that he preferred to get his diploma, and then to pursue a path that could eventually end with him being the head coach of an NBA team. He also wouldn’t rule out the desire to helm the French national team.

“Everyone knows that I’m friends with [French national team coach Freddy Fauthoux], I love him, he’s my guy! But in the very long term, why not,” Parker mused. “It’s clear that if you embark on this career, one day, you’ll want to coach the French team, that’s for sure. But before that, I have so many things to do.”