“One of the nicest compliments I can get is when they say I’m like the French Michael Jordan.”

– Tony Parker

THE LINEUP 🏀

1. 👀 Must-see from Wednesday
2. 🙌 Wemby’s historic first triple-double
3. 💥 Celtics, Hawks, Bulls get OT Ws
4. 🔙 Holiday returns to Milwaukee
5. 🇫🇷 Tony Parker exclusive Q&A

📺 NBA Paris Game 2024: The Cavs and Nets tip off the NBA’s third-ever regular-season game in Paris today (2 ET, NBA TV). ➡️ NBA.com’s Michael C. Wright breaks down the matchup.

📺 Holiday returns game: Jrue Holiday returns to Milwaukee (7:30 ET, TNT) for the first time since being traded for Damian Lillard in the offseason. Read more in Section 4.

1. THURSDAY MORNING MUST-SEE

Top Plays

• Victor Wembanyama has drawn video game comparisons with his combination of size and skill set. Another similarity? Unlocking new moves as you progress through the game. Wednesday saw Wemby unleash the full-court football outlet pass and a between-the-defenders-legs dime to a cutting Julian Champagnie for the finish
• Nikola Jokic wasn’t going to let Wemby have all the outlet pass fun, as he hit Michael Porter Jr. with the full-court fastball for the assist
• Brandin Podziemski said forget the assist, I’ll just hit the full-court hook shot myself … during warmups
• Alperen Sengun hit the acrobatic circus shot while falling to the ground … and somehow not traveling
• Jordan Nwora made sure Wednesday’s 10-game night had at least one poster dunk

On the Ground in Paris

• Another GOAT Debate: The Nets name their European NBA GOAT
• He’s still got it: Do not challenge a Hall of Famer to a game of HORSE as Tony Parker could not miss. Hear more from Tony in Section 5
• Learning from Jimmy?: After playing with Big Face Coffee owner Jimmy Butler in Miami the past three seasons, Max Strus became a barista for a day at Cavs Cafe in Paris
• An Artistic Debate: Donovan Mitchell and Isaac Okora debate who had the better Eiffel Tower sketch
• Players Turned Coaches: The Nets hosted a clinic for kids from Paris Basketball 18 and Levallois Sporting Club

2. WEMBY’S FIRST TRIPLE-DOUBLE IS HISTORIC

🤠 Spurs 130, Pistons 108: Victor Wembanyama (16 pts, 12 reb, 10 ast) made history with his first career triple-double as San Antonio snapped a five-game losing streak. | Recap

• Second player to ever record a triple-double playing less than 22 minutes (Russell Westbrook, Mar. 4, 2014)
• Youngest player (20 years, 6 days) with a triple-double with zero turnovers (Andre Iguodala, 21y/54d on Mar. 23, 2005)
• Fifth-youngest player to record their first career triple-double (Josh Giddey 19y/84d, LaMelo Ball 19y/140d, Markelle Fultz 19y/317d and Luka Doncic 19y/327d)

⚜️ Pelicans 141, Warriors 105: New Orleans continued its strong January (4-1) with a wire-to-wire win over Golden State, handing the Warriors their worst home loss of the Steve Kerr era. Jonas Valanciunas (21 pts, 9 reb) led eight Pelicans with 10+ points. | Recap

⛵ Clippers 126, Raptors 120: Paul George scored 15 of his 29 points in the fourth to lead the Clippers to their seventh win in eight games. Fresh off signing an extension, Kawhi Leonard had 29 points, seven assists and two blocks. | Recap

🎷 Jazz 124, Nuggets 111: The Jazz improved to 9-2 in their last 11 games behind a combined 75 points from Jordan Clarkson, Lauri Markkanen and Collin Sexton. Nikola Jokic reached 13,000 career points, becoming the youngest player (28y/325d) to record 13K+ points, 6K+ rebounds and 4K+ assists, breaking the mark previously held by LeBron (29y/82d). | Recap

⛈️ Thunder 128, Heat 120: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (28 pts, 8 ast), Chet Holmgren (23 pts, 9 reb, 3 blk) and Jalen Williams (19 pts, career-high 12 ast) led the Thunder past the Heat behind a 63-51 second half. | Recap

👑 Kings 123, Hornets 98: Keegan Murray (25), Domantas Sabonis (24, poster) and former Hornet Malik Monk (20) combined for 69 points as the Kings cruised past the Hornets. | Recap

🏎️ Pacers 112, Wizards 104: Playing without Tyrese Haliburton (hamstring), Myles Turner (18 pts, 13 reb) led seven Pacers with 10+ points to get past the Wizards. | Recap

3. CELTICS WIN BATTLE OF NO. 1s, 1 OF 3 OT GAMES

🍀 Celtics 127, Wolves 120 (OT): Jayson Tatum (45 pts, 6 3s) and Jaylen Brown (35 pts, 11 reb) combined for 80 points as Boston won the clash of conference leaders to improve to 18-0 at home, the best home start to a season in franchise history. | Recap

Celtics rally late: Trailing by nine with 3:35 to play, the Celtics closed regulation with a 14-5 run to force overtime.

• Tatum hit a huge step-back 3, to cut the lead to two with 1:40 left
• Tatum missed the game-tying free throw, White grabbed the offensive board, Boston swung it to an open Jrue Holiday for the corner 3 for the lead with 25.3 left
• After Anthony Edwards’ FTs tied it, Tatum’s game-winning attempt came up short

Celtics take control: Minnesota took multiple three-point leads early in OT before Boston tied it with 1:33 left, setting up a huge Celtics sequence:

• After a KAT missed 3, Tatum hit the driving lefty layup to give him 40 for the night.
• On the next possession, Holiday got the steal on Edwards and found a wide-open Tatum for the dagger transition 3

🅰️ Hawks 139, Sixers 132 (OT): Jalen Johnson (25 pts, career-highs of 16 reb and 7 ast) had the best game of his young career to lead the Hawks past the Embiid-less Sixers. Trae Young (28 pts, 11 ast) and Dejounte Murray (25 pts, 5 reb, 5 ast) combined for 53 as Atlanta used a 10-0 run in the final two minutes of OT after Tyrese Maxey (35 pts, 9 ast) fouled out. | Recap

🐂 Bulls 124, Rockets 119 (OT): The Hawks weren’t the only ones to use a 10-0 overtime run to secure a win as the Bulls pulled away from the Rockets after Houston rallied from 16 down to force OT. Coby White (30 pts, 8 ast, 6 3s) and Zach LaVine (25 pts, 13 reb, 7 ast) combined for 55 for the Bulls, while Alperen Sengun (25 pts, 9 reb, 5 ast) led the Rockets. | Recap

4. HOLIDAY RETURNS TO MILWAUKEE

Sept. 27, 2023: Milwaukee acquired Damian Lillard as part of a three-team trade, sending Jrue Holiday to Portland.

Oct. 1, 2023: Boston acquired Holiday from Portland, countering Milwaukee’s move by adding the former Buck.

Jan. 11, 2024: The date circled on the calendar as soon as the Holiday trade was completed, marking his first game back in Milwaukee.

Holiday played three seasons in Milwaukee, arriving for the 2020-21 season that saw the Bucks elevate from contenders to champions, winning their first title in 50 years.

The five-time All-Defensive Team guard was the final piece to the championship puzzle, complementing the established core with clutch plays on both ends of the court.

With the Celtics, Holiday (13 ppg, 6.4 rpg, 4.7 apg) has helped Boston rise to the top team in the NBA (29-8) and the only team ranked in the top four in both offensive and defensive efficiency.

What will Thursday’s game (7:30 ET, TNT) have in store? A video tribute? A standing ovation from the Milwaukee fans? A fired-up Holiday ready to show the Bucks they should have kept him? It could be all of the above.

5. TONY PARKER: “MY DREAM WAS TO PLAY IN THE NBA … AND PEOPLE WERE LAUGHING”

When Tony Parker was drafted into the NBA in 2001, the league had just two other French players.

Twenty-two years later, after he became the first French player inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, the season opened with a record 14.

Ahead of the NBA Paris Game, we caught up with the four-time champ and six-time All-Star about what advice he’d give to his younger self, what it feels like to see faith rewarded and — finally — the pride he has in his impact on growing the game in France.

Editor’s note: The following 1-on-1 conversation has been condensed and edited.

You had to have so much belief, often out of the spotlight, to get to the league. What advice would you give to yourself as a kid, dreaming about playing at the highest level?

So as a kid, the advice that I would give myself is to dream big. And if you say your dream to somebody and he’s not laughing at you, you don’t dream big enough. When I was a kid, my dream was to play in the NBA and people were laughing a lot. But now I’m the one who’s laughing.

What were the biggest obstacles you encountered on your way to the NBA?

I think the biggest obstacle was just to prove to the Americans that French people can play basketball, because back then they didn’t have a lot of respect for European basketball. [laughs] And there was no European point guards who made it in the NBA. So that was the biggest obstacle. It was to show an American coach that a European point guard can run an NBA franchise.

Now that you’re able to reflect as well on the impact that you’ve had on the game, France and around the world, what would you tell yourself now?

Now, I’m very proud and very happy. You know, it’s nice to see the relationship between the NBA and my country — it’s the third year in a row that we’re doing a regular season game. When I played, we did preseason games — and it was always very special to me to play in my country with the Spurs jersey. Now, to see where French basketball is, and to have 14 players, 14 French players in the NBA, it makes me very proud. I always took it very seriously in my role as an ambassador for French basketball. So it’s pretty cool to see now. I remember when I was a kid, I’m the one who used to go see Michael Jordan and Magic Johnson when they did all those European games. And now I’m on the other side.

When you look back at when you were a teenager in San Antonio, what sticks out the most about adjusting to new life there?

It was very hard when I was 19 years old but it made me stronger mentally — and that’s an NBA career. That’s a career. You know, you’re gonna have ups and downs and it’s the way that you’re gonna show how strong you are mentally, that is gonna make a difference. I think the mental side is the biggest difference. The difference between the good players and the great players.

There was some foreshadowing because the next one is any advice for players as they play for Pop?

The advice that we give to players who play for Pop is just keep playing. I know it’s hard sometimes because he’s in your head the whole time and he wants perfection, even if we know that it’s impossible to be perfect. He’s gonna strive for that and it can only make you better.

How do you feel when people look at you and tell you that you’re part of the reason that basketball has really exploded globally?

It makes me proud. It makes me proud, it makes me humble. You know, it’s a very nice compliment: I’ve been hearing that the last couple days that I’m the reason why French basketball took off and all that kind of stuff. That I’m one of the pioneers. It just reminds me of my days when I was a kid and when I used to watch Michael Jordan and the way that the NBA just took off, with the Dream Team, and all those titles with the Bulls. I wanted to try to do the same thing with my country in French basketball. So it’s nice. One of the nicest compliments I can get is when they say I’m like the French Michael Jordan. It’s a pretty cool compliment that people will get up in France at 3 in the morning to watch Michael Jordan games and then they’re up at 3 in the morning to watch my game. So that’s pretty cool.

When you were drafted, what was basketball like in France compared to where it is at now?

Very small, very small. You know, soccer was the No. 1 sport and that there was not a lot of basketball. I couldn’t watch it on TV. And so now it’s amazing. Now with social media and the NBA League Pass now you can watch every day at any time. The platform and everything that the NBA put together, it’s amazing. And coming year after year in Europe preseason, now you have regular season games. Now you can play everywhere, every continent — you know, China, India. The talent can come from anywhere.

How has France reacted to your Hall of Fame induction?  And what’s been the most memorable thing, or made you the happiest?

It was huge. It was huge in France. The coverage of it was amazing. I was very surprised, I didn’t realize it was gonna be covered like that with the French president and all that kind of stuff. Everybody knew about it. And, it makes you very nostalgic because it was the last time that we celebrated my career. So you start to remember like all the titles and all those years playing with the Spurs. I feel very blessed and very lucky that I was in a great franchise. And now people will remember that forever.

If there’s anything that you want people to know — whether it’s one thing people should know about French basketball, one thing people should know about you, your career advice — I just wanted to give you the floor.

The only thing that I want people to remember is that I was a winner and I wanted to win and it’s a team sport, and we did it together. And now our French people can play basketball. Now I think Americans know that.