In a shock to roughly nobody, Tony Parker claimed a second straight FIBA Europe men’s player of the year award but the big surprise was how much the San Antonio Spurs man needed to lean on support from non-fan votes to get over the line.
Parker narrowly beat Milos Teodosic for the overall award after the Serbian guard managed get nearly treble the French man’s support in the fan vote. Teodosic narrowly topped fan voting with Bogdan Bogdanovic, who finished fifth overall, finishing just behind his countryman. Both Serbian players were undoubtedly aided by the country’s run to the silver medal at the FIBA World Cup in Spain, which included a semi-final win over France. Parker didn’t play in the World Cup after playing in the NBA Finals for the second straight season, winning the title with the Spurs.
Here’s how the final tally shaped up. We’ve included Parker, Teodosic, and Bogdanovic’s fan votes in brackets.
Tony Parker – 19.1% (10,666)
Milos Teodosic – 18% (29,191)
Boris Diaw – 14.7%
Goran Dragic – 8.8%
Bogdan Bogdanovic – 7.4% (29,094)
Pau Gasol – 6.7%
Dirk Nowitzki – 6.1%
Sergio Rodriguez – 3.5%
Jonas Valanciunas – 3%
Alessandro Gentile – 1%
“It makes me really glad. This distinction rewards our great season with the Spurs that ended with the NBA Championship,” said Parker via a statement.
“To come back that strong after the loss we had in the last match against Miami in 2013, this is really amazing. We showed a style of basketball that was nearly perfect,” he said.
“Now I am a FIBA Europe Player of the Year for the second time in a row. It’s a great honour to face players like (Dirk) Nowitzki, (Pau) Gasol and all the others from the Euroleague. I deeply thank all those who voted for me. I am proud to receive this trophy.”
FIBA Europe president Turgay Demirel expressed his congratulations to Parker. “With his second FIBA Europe Player of the Year Award, Tony Parker joins an elite club that includes Dirk Nowitzki, Pau Gasol and Andrei Kirilenko,” said Demirel. “On the heels of his fourth NBA Championship with the San Antonio Spurs last year, 2015 will give Tony the opportunity to captivate basketball fans on the EuroBasket stage once more, this time in front of his home fans.”
FIBA Regional Director for Europe Kamil Novak also congratulated Parker. “Tony Parker is a fantastic ambassador for European basketball and once more a deserved recipient of this award,” said Novak. “He epitomises the team player, evidenced by his commitment to the French national team over the past decade and the fact his remarkable NBA career has been spent with one club.”
Photo: FIBA Europe/Castoria/De Massis
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