PARIS -- Former NBA star Tony Parker will start his coaching career in charge of France's under-17 team, the French basketball federation said Friday.
Parker, 43, will coach the team at the U17 World Cup in Turkey next year.
Parker, who will be a head coach for the first time, has flirted with the idea of coaching for more than a year, he told Andscape's Marc J. Spears in an interview. Parker also had numerous conversations with his father about it.
Parker said he has turned down opportunities to be an assistant coach in the NBA, but he plans to pursue other coaching opportunities after the Under-17 World Cup.
"It has been a year that we've been talking about [coaching]," Parker said about his father. "And I told him that I was missing the court. And he's the one who was like, 'Let's go. Let's coach. Let's go on the court, help those kids. And with all that knowledge that you have, let's put it to use.' It's been great what I did with winning all those championships and been great what I did with the academy, but it's not the same as being on the court.
"And so, my dad was like, 'Let's do it.' That's why it's funny that on his birthday, October 15, I got the call that I got the job."
Parker, a four-time NBA champion with the San Antonio Spurs in 2003, 2005, 2007 and 2014, made 181 appearances for France, winning the EuroBasket tournament in 2013.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
