Thirty Minute Mentors Podcast Transcript: Tony Parker

I recently interviewed Tony Parker on my podcast, Thirty Minute Mentors. Here is a transcript of our interview:

Adam: Our guest today was one of the best basketball players over the course of his 18-year career. And one of the greatest European players of all time. Tony Parker was a six-time NBA All-Star, four-time NBA champion, and the first European-born player to win the NBA Finals MVP. Tony, thank you for joining us.

Tony: Thanks. Thanks for having me.

Adam: Thanks for being here. You were born in Belgium and raised in France, where your dad, native of Chicago, had relocated to play basketball professionally, and you grew up playing soccer before getting inspired by Michael Jordan and the balls and ultimately shifting your focus toward basketball. Can you take listeners back to your early days? What experiences and lessons were most instrumental to shaping your worldview and shaping the trajectory of your success?

Tony: I guess it started with my dad being a great basketball player, playing Europe and it definitely inspired me. And growing in France back in the day, it was no European point or you made an NBA. So it was a long shot. So people thought I was crazy when I said I wanted to play in the NBA. And during that vacation that my dad brought us to Chicago to watch the Bulls and Michael Jordan. I learned a lot watching. And then going back to France, I will wake up at three in the morning and watch every game. I was a big student of the game. And my dad helped me a lot with the mental side of it. Because you have a lot of great players, obviously, you know, you got players, you know, I always told myself, they might be like faster than me, they might be stronger than me, they might be taller than me. But if it's one thing, they will not be me as the mental side. Because that's the big difference then, with the best players and the good players, you know, is the mental part and how are you going to perform on the pressure. When the lights is on, you have a lot of guys who are the king of practice, but when a game comes on, nobody wants the ball. And that's when I saw it was different from other guys, whenever the game was on the line and I was a kid and I can see in their eyes, you know, they were like scared and passed me the ball. I felt comfortable in those situations.

Adam: How do you develop those skills? How do you get to that place, whether you're a basketball player, or whether you're doing anything else in your career?

Tony: I don't know if you can work on it. You know, a lot of people asked me now that I have my academy, can you work on the mental side? Can you work on, like handle the pressure? And I guess to a certain extent, yes, I guess. But some of it is if you it in you or not. Everybody feels pressure. Unless there are guys who tell you they never feel pressure, that's not true. It is the way you're going to handle it. And you're going to feel comfortable with it. And to perform at your highest level when it counts. I don't know if you can really work on it. But me, it always came naturally.

Adam: Was there ever a time when you had a high-pressure moment whether it was with the Spurs or even before your time in the NBA? And maybe you didn't perform under pressure? And you're able to learn from that moment?

Tony: Yeah, early on, you know, the big games, you know, when you start playing, you have games when it goes your way and you have games, it doesn't go your way. And I always learn more when it didn't go my way. And when I will go back and look at film and talk with my dad and see what I can do better. I think it's very important to learn. When you smile when you're a kid and learn from your mistake, it can only make you better. And so even when I arrived in the NBA, we always learned the most when we lost in some of the best basketball that we played in the history of the Spurs like 2014. You know, when we won the championship, it came after huge loss in 2013 when we lost in the finals, and we were up three to game six of five with 28 seconds and we lost that game. That was maybe the worst loss in my career. That's when you see the real players and the guys who have the character you know, to come back, learn from it and come back even stronger.

Adam: Tony, I want to bring you back and bring listeners back to a moment that they might not be aware of. I'm sure you remember it vividly. You weren't a highly touted NBA prospect. The San Antonio Spurs had to pick at the bottom of the first round. And they were giving you a look. Most of the MBA wasn't and they brought you into a practice and you want one on one with a guy who pretty much destroyed you. And now your Tony Parker, NBA legend on your way to the Hall of Fame. How do you go from that place to where you are right now?

Tony: Oh, I always remember that first practice. I just flew 10 hours and a little bit of jetlag. And they made me play against a retired guy who basically roughed me up and play super physical. Remember that he'd beat me pretty good. And I was like telling myself I'm like, man can have any excuse, you know, nobody cares about jetlag, or that kind of stuff, you know, you always have to be ready. And I learned a lot from that practice and it helped me for all the workouts that I did after that. If you put in perspective back then European guys, we were like, not very high on the drafts. Nobody believed that you can have a European guy to be a starting point guard for your franchise or even a franchise player. Like now you see we don't teach or Yanis are back then we meet Dirk Nowitzki, now everybody likes to have one. I don't mind having a European as a franchise player. When I first arrived in NBA was not like that. And so took a lot of pride to be the first like European point guard to make it an NBA starter at 19 years old. It definitely started with a bad first practice. But like I told you, Adam, you know, some of the best of it starts with a bad thing.

Adam: And it really comes down to believing in yourself and not listening to the doubters. Just because no one's done it before doesn't mean no one's gonna do it. You could be the first one to do it as you were.

Tony: Yes. Exactly. I was always telling myself like, why not me? That was always my thing. When people say leave France, they don't play basketball in France, they play more soccer kind of stuff. I was like, well, why not me? I can be the first one. And I always had that attitude since I was a kid. Because I was like, small. And as I started working on my teardrop, you know, to score big guys. I always had that attitude, like, why not me? Now what I tell my academy and what I tell my kids is you always have to dream big, because I always dream big. I always tell them like if you tell somebody you dream, and he's not laughing at you, you're not dreaming big enough. And so me when I was saying that I wanted to become the first European Beauregard to play an NBA, everybody was laughing at me. And so now who's laughing now? So I always tell my kids, dream big.

Adam: I love that. I really love that. If you don't have a vision for your life, and if that vision isn't something big, where are you going to go? Who are you going to be?

Tony: Exactly. So it starts with you, you know, you have to want to believe first. It has to come within you. You're the one who's going to practice, you're the one who's going to spend all those hours practicing your dribble or your shot or whatever. And so I start with you dreaming big and then putting a plan together to achieve your goals.

Adam: I love it. Tony, when you were drafted by the Spurs, they were a couple of years removed from winning a championship. And there were a couple of players on the team who were two of the best players not only in the NBA but in NBA history. David Robinson, a guest on this podcast, and Tim Duncan, Gregg Popovich, the coach of the team, one of the great coaches in NBA history, one of the great coaches in the history of sports. What role did those leaders on the team play in your success? What role did mentorship play in your success?

Tony: I arrived and they only won one championship, you know, so I was at the beginning of them to becoming who they became. I mean coach Popovich was coach Pupovich but he was not coach Pupovich as you know now. He grew into coach but I was lucky enough to have a coach that had the balls to basically throw me out there under the fire and NBA starting point guard and 19 years old and a little French point guard. That's what helped me the most is to have the opportunity just have the chance and I was lucky to have a coach that was crazy enough to do it because it was only his fourth year or fifth year I think when I first arrived. So he's not like it was to coach the five NBA championships and these 15 years and you just throwing a French bodyguard, he was still earning his rights into the NBA. And then Timmy, to have a teammate like that my first two years in the NBA, that's when he won his first two MVPs. So Timmy was obviously a superstar when I arrived but he was not an MVP yet. So to arrive at the right time to grow with Timmy, to grow with Popovich, into a dynasty altogether.

Adam: What did you learn about mentorship? And what are your best tips on the topic of mentorship?

Tony: Lead by example. You can do all the talking but leading by example for me is the best way to do mentorship. I had great examples, you know, with David Robinson and Tim Duncan. Bruce Bowen had great vets who lead by example, and I tried to do the same thing when it was my turn.

Adam: I want to ask you about your turn, you are a mentor to the greatest NBA prospect since LeBron, Victor Wembanyama. How do you approach that mentor-mentee relationship? And what can anyone listening to this conversation learn from it?

Tony: You have to find a happy middle between what worked for you and what is your error. And what he's going through was, like you said, being the biggest prospect since LeBron. A lot of similar realities because I had a lot of pressure when I play with the national team and then the Spurs, and he's having the same thing. And so it was just great to see the way he's thinking and having his own expectation. That's one of the first pieces of advice I give him, you know, have your own expectation. You can't satisfy everybody, it's impossible. I was MVP of the finals in NBA champion, and you still had guys criticizing. And you can do better than, like, you can go higher than a championship and being MVP of the finals, and you still have people criticizing. So I told him like the biggest thing because people have such a high expectation of him. Just set your own expectation and your own goals. And if you are happy with that, you'll be fine. You can’t listen to anybody else except yourself.

Adam: That's universally applicable advice. You can't satisfy everyone. Set your own expectations, set your own goals. Focus on becoming your best self. Don't focus on satisfying the critics.

Tony: It is not easy to do, Adam. When you're young, you're a human being you know? You listen to everybody, you have a tendency to read all social media, all the articles, and you want to read every comment, you know. So I always try to tell young kids like don't do that. It is just toxic, you know, it's not going to help you.

Adam: Yeah, yeah. It's great advice. And there's a whole industry out there that feeds off of negativity, feeds off of toxicity. And it's really on you to have the maturity to block that out. And Tony, it's on you as a mentor, to share that knowledge, to share that wisdom, and share that perspective and explain that. At the end of the day, it's about becoming your best self. It's about fulfilling the expectations that you set for yourself. And if you're a great competitor, if you're someone who is great at your craft, no one's gonna put more pressure on you than you. So don't worry about the external noise. Don't worry about external expectations. That's for sure. Tony as the point guard on the Spurs as one of the great point guards in basketball history, you were the leader on the floor. You were a leader on the team. In your experience, what are the key characteristics of a great leader and what can anyone do to become a better leader?

Tony: Just be tough on yourself, lead by example, care about your teammates, care about their lives and how they doing. That's something that I learned a lot about caring about my teammates and making sure they okay. If you want to be a good leader, you have to know what's going on around you and what's going on in your life, their life, and make sure everybody is on the same page. And then I'm repeating myself with leading by example. When you are the first one at practice, last one to leave, it is a force for everybody to rise their bar, you know, to be great. And then you just go out there and you show how much you want to, how much you want it. People will see it. You can't fake it, you know, if you want to win and what we try to accomplish as trying to be one of the best teams that ever we were going out there and we wanted to win every year.

Adam: We mentioned some of the great leaders who you've been around. Who do you consider to be the best players and coaches that you've played for, played with, and what do you learn from them?

Tony: The best player that I played with was Tim Duncan. The best coach was Coach Pop. And the best player that we played against was Kobe Bryant.

Adam: And what did you learn from those players and from Coach Pop? What were the best lessons that to this day you take away?

Tony: Coach Pop was so demanding, every detail was important. Everything counted and had that phrase you know pounding that rock, that everything is important every day. His competitiveness was as high as us. He wanted to win as bad as us. And so when you have a coach like that, you can only go high. And then Kobe. It was during the Lakers era that it was unbelievable. Spurs and Lakers rivalry was huge. Kobe and Shaq were in their prime. They definitely pushed us to get better and that's what you want from your opponent. You want them to play their best and for us to play our best and that's why we play in the NBA. You want to play against the best and try to push each other to try to reach a high level.

Adam: You mentioned Tim Duncan. What made Tim Duncan so special? And you singled him out as a great teammate. What makes a great teammate?

Tony: Because he was so unselfish. A lot of superstars, they’re selfish, you know? They care about themselves. He was so unselfish that he didn't care that if he was being graded on mine, who, you know, he was like all about the team. And we never let our ego mine or Timmy’s egos, we never let our ego be above the team goals and winning a championship. And so that's why Timmy was so special. He was super unselfish. Maybe the most unselfish superstar that NBA had.

Adam: Yeah, a lot of key themes that are applicable, whether you're playing basketball or whether you're trying to succeed in anything. The importance of leading by example. Tony, which you've mentioned, in which you alluded to and talking about what made Gregg Popovich great when you played for him, his desire to win, and the fact that he did everything he possibly could to put the Spurs in a position to win. And that rubbed off on everyone. Competitiveness, leaving it all out on the court, leaving it all out on the field, giving it everything you have, as Kobe did, which allowed him among every great player you played against. To stand out and being unselfish. Putting others first. That's what great leaders do. That's what great teammates do.

Adam: Can you talk a little bit about the culture of the Spurs? The Spurs obviously are known for having this incredible winning culture on the court and off the court. How did the Spurs do it so successfully, through all these years?

Tony: We talked about it. It is our ego. We didn't let our ego be ahead of the team goals. And we will never satisfy like each year, even with all the success and making all those playoff appearances or NBA Finals, we always came back the next year, and we are still hungry, and still want more. And I think if I could add one more thing is the way we got along, you know, with our teammates, because everybody cared. We'll go to dinners all the time, we cared about each other. That helps a lot if you want to be good for a long period of time.

Adam: It's a really important point at the end of the day. It's not just about numbers. It's not just about results. It's about human beings. It's about human relationships. And in order to develop a winning culture, and in order to get results, you have to put human beings first. And it starts with developing those relationships and caring for one another.

Tony: For sure, for sure. That's very important. It is as important as having talent in your team. Sometimes it's even better to have less talent, but everybody gets along and cares. You'll go further as a team.

Adam: Looking back, what are some of the highlights of your career? What are the best memories you have from your times playing basketball? What really stands out to you and why?

Tony: Besides winning championships, because that's obvious, all the little moments having dinners or little meetings at hotels. Because we have to fix this, so all the camaraderie and all the time we spent together to make sure we achieved our goal.

Adam: Can you talk about that first championship? How did you get from a place where you are unproven? You're on the big stage on the big platform. And now you win that first ring. How did you get to that place? What did you learn from it?

Tony: The first championship is like technically the easiest one because you don't even realize what you're doing and everything goes so fast. It's hard to realize the first one went fast. The second one was nice because we went to game 7/3, it was the cherry on the cake because I got MVP. The hardest one and the one I most appreciated was the fourth one because we went three and five years and then nothing for seven years and the last couple of times in the conference finals. One time in the NBA Finals, and you're getting old and you think maybe you're not going to make it and 2014 was definitely the sweetest.

Adam: How were you able to maintain that level of excellence throughout your career? What were the keys to staying at that level?

Tony: There's something you can’t teach, for me, to be motivated every year. And doesn't matter how much money you make, you're gonna play the same way. Every year, we stay hungry, and you want to be great. That's something I don't think you can teach. You either have it or not. And we definitely have it with the Spurs. It didn't matter what we did the year before, we will come back stronger next year. And we want it to be great all the time.

Adam: You mentioned a couple of challenges early on in your career, you mentioned a moment that you learned from when you were struggling early on in your time with the Spurs. We talked about that difficult practice you had as the Spurs were scouting you right before the draft. What do you consider to be the biggest obstacles that you faced? And what have you learned from them?

Tony: The biggest obstacle was to prove to Americans that Europeans can play basketball. The French can play basketball. That was my main thing. When I first arrive, I wanted to earn the respect of my coaches, and my teammates. And I wanted to show them that I was going to be there, whatever happens, that they'll be mentally tough, and people can trust me.

Adam: How do you build trust?

Tony: Practice every practice. It takes time.

Adam: It's the little steps. It's doing your part.

Tony: The other step is showing that you're there every day and working hard and working in your game. And it's like every day. It is an everyday process.

Adam: Yeah, just showing up. Being there and being present.

Tony: Simple stuff like being on time. Don't be late. When we go on the road, the little stuff that shows that you're reliable and that you're going to be consistent.

Adam: Can you talk a little bit about your daily routine as an NBA player, in your daily routine now that you're out of basketball, but still trying to compete?

Tony: Yeah, as an NBA player, just try to be ready, you know, you work on your body and enjoy being ready. And as a retain guy, just stay sharp mentally and be ready for business and try to be with the right people. There are people under right now to basically choose where I want to work with. And it's been a blessing. I love being out there. I don't even feel like I'm working, to be honest.

Adam: So a couple of quick follow-up questions. Firstly, as a basketball player, what were the specific things that you did looking back, that helped you get to the top that helped you become great?

Tony: It is discipline, very simple. But discipline, and wanting more than other guys. Practice. It sounds simple. But practice and then spend the time to just love what you're doing. And working hard. It sounds simple but there are so many guys who say they go and practice but they don't practice as hard. So just basically what you're gonna say, you do it.

Adam: Yeah, putting in the hours in, putting in the time, and having a passion for it. If you love what you do, and you're spending your time on your passion, you're going to be a lot more likely to want to put the time in to want to keep going and going and going. And then you mentioned that today, something that you're really focused on is spending your time with people who you want to spend your time with. How do you decide who to partner with? How do you decide who to collaborate with?

Tony: Just spend time doing your homework. Spend time with people first before you decide to associate yourself. I earn that luxury now to choose who I want to spend my time with. And I don't take it for granted. You know, my whole career, I could never choose my schedule. Now I can choose my schedule, so I try to do it wisely.

Adam: Yeah. And since retiring from basketball, you've pursued another passion of yours. Something that doesn't really have anything to do with shooting or dribbling or passing. And that's why you've become active in a couple of different ventures investing in Chateau La Mascaronne - if I pronounced that correctly.

Tony: Yes, La Mascaronne. 

Adam: Ok. And Jeeper Champagne. What are the best lessons you've learned from your time in the wine business?

Tony: But for me, it's like personal you know, I grew up with it in my culture. You know, in France, I always enjoy drinking wine and drinking champagne. We celebrate all the biggest victories and biggest championships with a good bottle of wine and champagne. And so when I retired, for me, it was just a natural move to try to find a good project where I can invest in learning the business. I got very blessed and lucky to meet Michelle Rabia, who's been in this business for a long, long time. And he loves sports. He used to own the team that I own now, the basketball team as well. And so we got along really well. And after a year we were like, okay, let's do something together. And we decided to invest in L.A. Moscow as rose in polos, and then a champagne. And I love it. I love it. When I was playing with the Spurs, I will host the best castles once a month. Now we'll do like a nice dinner at my house, we coach the next day, we'll invite them to a Spurs game, and develop those relationships and make sure we have great allocation and all that kind of stuff. I always love knowing about their stories of all those families that been over, the years of generation after generation, building all that wealth in wine and France. I'm very happy now to be part of it and to try to build something special too.

Adam: I love it. Tony, how can anyone listening to this conversation do to develop a winning mindset?

Tony: If you can work on that, I think that's something you have inside.

Adam: Have you been around teammates who you've seen get to that next level? And was there anything that they did to do that?

Tony: I mean, that's something that you have in your nut. That's why we went recruit players I scout, I always try to see if they have that motor, you know, and that's something I don't think you can teach it.

Adam: So as an executive, someone who runs a basketball team, leads a team looking for players who have that motor who have that in them, what is that? And what exactly are you looking for in the people who you're looking to bring onto your team?

Tony: No extra stuff, like going to rebounds every time, diving footballs, like basically doing all the little stuff that then wins basketball games.

Adam: Yeah. I mean, whatever is not showing up on the scorebook.

Tony: Everything that doesn't show on the stat sheet you use here.

Adam: Yeah, yeah. Tony, what can anyone listening to this conversation do to become more successful, personally and professionally? 

Tony: Dreaming big.

Adam: love it. Your dream was to be the first European point guard and you were able to fulfill it and all about having a vision and fulfilling that vision.

Tony: Exactly. That was my dream. And then I put a plan together to make sure I can achieve that goal.

Adam: Having that dream, dreaming big. And having a plan writing it down. I did an interview with James Worthy, I don't know if you ever played against James Worthy in an exhibition game. I know he was before your time but didn't play. When I asked James, what can anyone do to become more successful, personally and professionally, he checked off a bunch of things. But the first thing he said was, write it down, write it down. And I've heard that from a number of other people who I've spoken to. And Tony, it speaks to your point, which is, not only do you need to have a vision, not only do you need to have a plan, not only do you need to think big and dream big, but you need to execute on that plan. And it starts with writing it down, having a plan, and then writing it down.

Tony: I agree with that. I agree. So it was a good thing to write down your goals and everything is a good thing. Because it starts with you. Believing starts with you and continues with you executing. 

Adam: Exactly. Tony, thank you for all the great advice, and thank you for being a part of Thirty Minute Mentors. 

Tony: Thanks. Thanks for having me.


Adam Mendler is an entrepreneur, writer, speaker, educator, and nationally-recognized authority on leadership. Adam is the creator and host of the business and leadership podcast Thirty Minute Mentors, where he goes one on one with America's most successful people - Fortune 500 CEOs, founders of household name companies, Hall of Fame and Olympic gold medal-winning athletes, political and military leaders - for intimate half-hour conversations each week. A top leadership speaker, Adam draws upon his insights building and leading businesses and interviewing hundreds of America's top leaders as a top keynote speaker to businesses, universities, and non-profit organizations. Adam has written extensively on leadership and related topics, having authored over 70 articles published in major media outlets including Forbes, Inc. and HuffPost, and has conducted more than 500 one on one interviews with America’s top leaders through his collective media projects. Adam teaches graduate-level courses on leadership at UCLA and is an advisor to numerous companies and leaders. A Los Angeles native, Adam is a lifelong Angels fan and an avid backgammon player.

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