SAN ANTONIO — Sunday afternoon the Frost Bank Center will not only host the San Antonio Spurs matchup against the New Orleans Pelicans but will also host a celebration of a franchise legend.
Tony Parker will be the guest of honor as the team and San Antonio will toast his induction into the Naismith Hall of Fame at halftime as his retired jersey will be re-raised bearing an inscription of the year he entered basketball immortality.
"Just an icon, obviously," Doug McDermott said. "What he's done for this organization was sensational. That'll be cool to be a part of."
McDermott has long been an admirer of Parker and the Spurs' legendary "Big 3" along with Tim Duncan and Manu Ginobili.
While with the Bulls, he recalls his favorite NBA memory was facing Parker and the Spurs for a Christmas Day game.
"When I was with the Bulls, it was pretty fun coming here to San Antonio, when Timmy D (Duncan), Manu, and Tony were all still here," he said.
And memories of facing Parker still resonate with the Spurs forward.
"Just playing against him was awesome," he recalled.
Even though McDermott never teamed up with Parker, he did get an up-close view of how competitive the former Spurs guard was on the floor.
McDermott's former Chicago teammate, Frenchman Joakim Noah, got into verbal sparring sessions with Parker when the Spurs and Bulls faced off. Of course, the two jawed back-and-forth in French during the game.
"I remember playing with Joakim Noah in Chicago, another Frenchman, I just remember them always talking French throughout the whole game," he said. "Talking a lot of crap, I assume."
Sunday's game will pay homage to Parker’s decorated career which includes four NBA titles, six NBA all-star nods, four All-NBA teams, and his 2007 NBA Finals MVP.
The Frost Center will be decorated with all things Parker and he'll make a special appearance at halftime.
"Just to have his presence here is awesome," McDermott said.
The game will likely mean a lot for the newest Frenchman in a Spurs uniform: Victor Wembanyama.
Wemby grew up in France and looked up to Parker and his basketball career. Fast forward, and Parker says he will always be there for the Spurs rookie whenever he needs advice.
"It's great that we have another French guy on our team now," said McDermott. "He was looking up to him as a kid too."
The "Tony Parker Hall of Fame game" will be a great time for fans to recall all he did for the franchise, grab a commemorative t-shirt, and have plenty of photo-ops celebrating No. 9's Spurs career.
MCDERMOTT'S ENGLISH CLASS IS IN SESSION FOR WEMBANYAMA
As Wembanyama is getting acclimated to the United States, McDermott is giving the rookie free English language lessons.
Wemby already had a strong command of the English language coming into the NBA but for the advanced language courses, McDermott is handing out assists.
"I try to help him as much as I can with English," he said.
But the Spurs forward isn't ready for French class 101.
"We'll have to take care of that before I move on to French," he laughed.