By Joel Orellana
FRANCE superstar guard Tony Parker is coming to Manila, after all.
The San Antonio Spurs playmaker has decided to fulfill his duties with Les Bleus after a lengthy talk with his pregnant wife.
In an interview with French newspaper L’Equipe, the 33-year-old Parker has reached an understanding with his wife, Axelle Francine, that he will play in the International Basketball Federation (Fiba) Manila Olympic Qualifying Tournament (OQT).
And if France tops the tournament, he will also suit up for the France national team in the Rio de Janeiro Olympics.
“Yes, I will be at the Olympic Qualifying and I will be at the Olympic Games if we qualify,” said Parker, a two-time Fiba Europe Player of the Year winner, in an interview.
“We’ve had many discussions with Axelle and we agreed. We had to make the decision. She knows how important it is for me. We evaluated all the situations and I’ve made my decision.”
Earlier, the four-time National Basketball Association (NBA) champion expressed doubts if he could play in the Manila OQT because his wife is about to give birth to their second son in the last week of July.
The Manila OQT is scheduled from July 5 to 11 at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City.
Parker’s decision to join the Vince Collet-coached team makes France an even formidable squad.
France and New Zealand are bracketed with the Philippines in Group B. In Group A are Canada, Turkey and Senegal. Only one team in each group will be eliminated from the second phase of the OQT. The 2015 EuroBasket bronze-medal winners are projected to be the team to beat in the Manila OQT with the presence of NBA players Boris Diaw, a teammate of Parker, Rudy Gobert of Utah, Nicolas Batum of Charlotte, Evan Fournier of Orlando, Ian Mahinmi of Indiana and Alexis Ajinca of New Orleans. Only the champion team in the Manila OQT will advance to the Rio Olympics set from August 5 to 21.
The Philippines is banking on the hometown crowd as it tries to enter the Games for the first time since 1972.