On Thursday, New York Knicks rookie Frank Ntilikina will face off against the greatest French player in history: Tony Parker. It’s an honor he cherishes.
Before he was turning heads as a member of the New York Knicks, Frank Ntilikina was winning awards in France’s LNB Pro A. A dynamic playmaker and overwhelming on-ball defender, Ntilikina earned NBA hype and an array of accolades during his time as the face of Strasbourg.
On Thursday, Dec. 28, Ntilikina will go back to his roots when the Knicks travel to play the man who has been the face of French basketball for the better part of 20 years: Tony Parker.
New York will travel to play the San Antonio Spurs in a rematch of the 1999 NBA Finals. The hope is that the two sides will play a close and competitive game, but attention will inevitably be averted from the scoreboard to the French point guards of future and present glory.
According to Marc Berman of The New York Post, Ntilikina is excited to face Parker, and honored to be compared to the greatest French player in NBA history.
"“I’m playing against the best French player in history,’’ Ntilikina said Wednesday in Chicago. “It will be a challenge playing against him. I never met him but talked to him a bit [after the draft] about the transition and defense in the NBA, a little bit about everything.’’“I think our play is different, but it’s an honor being compared to the best French player in history,’’ Ntilikina said. “Been watching him play [for a long time]. One of the best point guards in European Championship history.’’"
This will be a dream come true for a player who’s well on his way to justifying and validating the No. 8 overall selection in the 2017 NBA Draft.
One of the greatest moments of the past three seasons was the first encounter between Kristaps Porzingis and Dirk Nowitzki. The Dallas Mavericks ultimately outlasted the Knicks, but Porzingis and Nowitzki dueled in what many perceived as a clash of the past and the future.
On Thursday, Dec. 28, the Knicks’ newest European phenom turned NBA lottery pick will get his chance to go toe-to-toe with an idol of his own.
The parallels will be even more eery in this encounter, as Ntilikina and Parker have traveled an almost identical path to the Association.
Parker and Ntilikina were both born in Belgium and raised in France. They both won the French League Best Young Player award, and are the only two French winners of the FIBA Europe Under-18 Championship MVP award.
Parker has gone on to become a four-time NBA champion, a Finals MVP, a four-time All-NBA honoree, and a six-time All-Star—a Hall of Fame resume.
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Come Thursday, the New York Knicks will provide Frank Ntilikina with an opportunity to test himself against the greatest French player in NBA history.
Both Ntilikina and Tony Parker will be men on a mission.