Don’t worry about a fractured relationship between Tony Parker and the Spurs’ front office. Parker and R.C. Buford are scheduled to have dinner Friday night in France.
And don’t worry about the French holding a grudge. Parker would have missed Wednesday’s game against Italy anyway and, besides, Les Bleus won in overtime. For those who care about the details: Nicolas Batum, the athletic small forward the Spurs wanted in the 2008 draft, was a star.
But there is still a lot to worry about over there, and the NBA should worry, too. This is broken in a thousand ways, from the schedule to the lack of practice control to the arenas themselves.
France and Italy, for example, played in a gym on Sardinia because it’s one of the few in the country with air conditioning. A year ago, when the climate control failed, the floor became slippery.
There’s a lot of time to slip, too. If France qualifies and plays in the European Championships, Parker will have spent two months this summer with the national team. At least the French didn’t begin as early as, say, Italy did. The Italians started training camp July 2 and could keep going until mid-September.
This is what happens when they mix in a home-away series with Finland. FIBA could streamline, but there’s a resistance to accommodate the NBA.
There’s no standard for practice schedules, from FIBA Asia to FIBA South America. If a national team wants to go through two-a-days, that’s what happens. And if someone is hurt? No uniform system exists to determine how a player is cleared to play or gets rehab.
An extreme case: In the past, NBA officials were shocked when they observed the Chinese team and realized ice was not available for post-practice treatment.
All of which is why the Spurs insisted Parker fly trans-Atlantic. They wanted to make sure his injury was as minor as reported, and they didn’t mind if he missed a few days of a long summer of basketball.
They likely wanted to send a statement, too. They will be involved, and they will control everything they can control.
The Spurs also see the other side of national teams: Ian Mahinmi joined the French team this week, and the Spurs are all for it. Mahinmi can use all the work he can get.