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Years after the prank, the “Parisian Torpedo” and “Fiery Francophile” nicknames were eventually added to Tony Parker’s page on the site, and the ridiculous postgame moment was thus immortalized. “Can he continue to be your main butter and egg man and still crunk the boys from big D?”įor most basketball fans, the moment, which flabbergasted Popovich, represented a sliver of comic relief amid an intense slog through the playoffs.įor a small group of roundball nerds at Basketball Reference, however, it was a chance to document history. The Parisian Torpedo, Tony Parker,” Popovich was implored by 1920s-style prank reporter Scoops Callahan. What figured to be a routine line of inquiry turned into a chance for a then-fledgling basketball website to add to its reserves of information.
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The Spurs had just lost in Game 4 of their 2009 opening-round playoff series against the Mavericks, and Popovich was perched atop the press conference podium ready to field postgame questions. Gregg Popovich was about to get messed with. NBA Christmas Day preview, breakdown: COVID takes big tollĬOVID outbreak leaves NBA's Christmas Day slate without top starsĬontroversial NBA star is Instagram official with model