Parker Brothers has always been synonymous with board games, but in Lisle, the Parker brothers’ game of choice is basketball.
T.J. Parker is a 6-foot-2-inch senior guard for Lisle, while his younger brother Pierre is a sophomore on the team. And if either is looking for inspiration, there’s always 19-year-old Tony Jr., an NBA rookie who starts for the San Antonio Spurs.
“We played basketball together all the time when we were young,” said T.J., who returns to action Friday after missing six games due to a bout with mononucleosis. “We would play soccer, tennis and video games, but basketball was always No. 1.”
It’s easy to understand how that love of the game–and ability–was instilled in the trio. Their father, Tony Sr., was a star player at Leo High School and Loyola University before a 15-year playing and coaching career in Europe.
Because of that, all three were born and spent most of their lives overseas.
Tony Jr. was born in Belgium, while T.J. and Pierre were born in France. After spending his first two years of high school in Paris, T.J. and his father moved to Lisle in the summer of 2000. Pierre followed a year later, while Tony Jr. moved to San Antonio after being selected 28th in the 2001 NBA draft.
Before his move back to the United States, Tony Jr. played for the 2000 French junior national team that won the European junior championships and was a member of Paris Basket Racing, a professional team in France’s top league.
“We’re all very proud of [Tony Jr.],” T.J. said of his older brother, who is averaging 9.7 points, 3.9 assists and 1.1 steals for the Spurs and will be in the rookie game Saturday during the NBA’s All-Star weekend in Philadelphia.
“I always heard a lot about my dad’s playing days in high school and at Loyola,” T.J. said. “They say he was a great player. He played in Europe until he was 40 and he averaged 20 points a game.
“I’d like to think I got my mental toughness and my pull-up jumper from him.”
Tony Sr. graduated from Leo in 1973 and was considered one of the top freshmen in the country at Loyola, where he averaged 17 points a game in his four years. But after a tryout with the Bulls in 1977, Parker opted for a playing career in Europe, beginning in Amsterdam, where he met his wife, Pamela.
“I was like a vagabond,” Tony Sr. said. “I went wherever I could get a job.”
The Parker boys went to as many of their father’s games as they could, visiting such French towns as Gravelines, Denain, Fecamp and Rouen.
“Basketball isn’t that big over there,” T.J. said. “We get bigger crowds here for our high school games than we had in France.”
T.J. is averaging 22.5 points, 4.5 assists and 4 rebounds for Lisle (20-3, 12-0 in the Interstate Eight), which has a 34-game conference winning streak.
“It was a big letdown when we found out [about T.J.’s mononucleosis],” Lisle coach Mark D’Amico said. “There’s nothing he can’t do and he makes everyone around him better.
“If you want him to score, he’ll score. If you want him to rebound, he’ll rebound. But most important, he’ll defend. We usually put him on the other team’s best player, and he can shut down the best of them.”
Lisle received a No. 1 seed in the Class A Lisle regional. The Lions will play Feb. 20 against the winner of Montini and Timothy Christian, which handed Lisle one of its three losses.
T.J. hopes to study business in college and would love to play at Northwestern, which is one of many schools recruiting him.
“I’ve always dreamed of playing in the Big Ten,” Parker said. “I feel Northwestern would be a perfect fit for me.”
