Par Joël Pütz | Journaliste sportif
In addition to being a basketball legend and four-time NBA champion, Tony Parker is also close to some of the biggest names in sports, including David Beckham. The former British football player had also made a big confession to the French point guard about the league.
The least we can say is that the NBA Paris Game 2024 was the host to a five-star cast. The Cavaliers and Nets practically went unnoticed next to the enormous sports legends present at the AccorArena in Bercy! Among them, we found notably Tony Parker and David Beckham who attended the match together, all in good spirits:
David Beckham 🤝 Tony Parker #NBAParis #NBACelebRow pic.twitter.com/jBU4JH1qD5
— NBA (@NBA) January 11, 2024
An absolute football icon, the former England international wasn’t just there for publicity. Beckham happens to be a lifelong basketball fan, as evidenced by this anecdote from TP on the SKWEEK Show, shortly after the Paris Game. The former Manchester United star had just made a surprising admission about his connection to the NBA:
David Beckham’s unconditional love for Michael Jordan
Ian Mahinmi : There’s something about basketball that touches on lifestyle, you know. It’s a way of behaving, a way of dressing, it’s the music, it’s a style…
Tony Parker : What you’re saying is so good, and I’ll take another example. Yesterday I did an interview, I had David Beckham. And the question was: “Why did you choose the (jersey) numbers that you chose?” And so he said number 7 because of something in Manchester, all that… And after that, 23 at Real Madrid, why did he take number 23? He said Michael Jordan.
He says: “Michael Jordan was my favorite athlete,” all that. And then he says: “I took the 32 in Paris because of Magic Johnson.” Two NBA players, I thought that’s amazing. And I said: “Who are your favorite athletes?” He said Michael Jordan. How is that possible when in England, there is no basketball league, basketball is not very well known in England. For a player like that in the 90s, his favorite player was an NBA player…
A statement confirmed by “Becks” years earlier, during an interview with the Daily Mail:
No. 23 was available (in Madrid), and I’ve always been a huge Michael Jordan fan. I loved him as a player and as a person. Everything he stood for. Everything he accomplished in his career. I was a huge fan, so yes, it was a no-brainer.