By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
There was a… special force working behind the scenes that helped French center Joffrey Lauvergne to join the San Antonio Spurs: Tony Parker himself.
According to Lauvergne, the four-time NBA champion vouched for his “Les Bleus” comrade to the Spurs, something that played a part in their decision to sign him.
“For the record, Tony (Parker) was spending his holidays in the same place as me. One night, we met in a restaurant by total chance. The next day he called me and said ‘yesterday we were together for 20 minutes and you didn’t even tell me that the San Antonio Spurs were interested in you!’ I replied that I didn’t go with the flow and in the meantime, they had called him to take information. Apparently, he pushed the Spurs to sign me,” Lauvergne revealed to L’Equipe.
The 25-year-old player has joined the preparation of the French national team and is getting ready for what should be his fifth consecutive summer tournament. He and his teammates gathered together yesterday for the first time and today, they underwent “interrogation” by the media.
It was only natural that Lauvergne had to answer even more questions regarding the Spurs. And, of course, Gregg Popovich.
“San Antonio is a franchise that will franchise that will be more appropriate for me when it comes to the environment and the mentality. The way they see things is closer to mine. There are a lot of foreign guys and Tony being there is going to help me. I don’t know Gregg Popovich personally, but he seems to be a straight person. This the first time I sign somewhere and the coach calls me. It weighs, already.”