Monday Profile: Winding journey leads Anthony Parker to Lakeland Magic

LAKELAND — Anthony Parker’s basketball journey was anything but easy.

The new Lakeland Magic general manager put together a good enough college playing career at Bradley University in Peoria, Illinois, to be selected in the first round of the NBA draft.

But when he got to the league, he was anything but good enough.

Foot and ankle injuries slowed the Illinois native and, ironically now, his NBA career appeared to end when he was cut by the Orlando Magic in 1999. He and his wife, Tamaris, moved to Iowa as he tried to keep his career going in the failing Continental Basketball Association, but the NBA was gone.

Or so he thought.

Parker opted to give overseas basketball a try, playing in Israel and Italy until 2006. That’s when another NBA opportunity arose, and this time he thrived with the Toronto Raptors and Cleveland Cavaliers.

Parker retired after the 2012 season. He’s worked in broadcasting and scouting, but in his role with the Lakeland Magic — a minor league affiliate of the Orlando Magic within the G League — the 42-year-old is ready for something bigger.

“He’s a very good example of right balance of confidence and humility. That’s just natural,” said Matt Lloyd, Orlando's assistant general manager. “He’s going to knock it out of the park. He’s a superstar in the making, that’s for sure.”

Parker has been in the position many of his Lakeland Magic players will be in. He struggled to make it. He’s had the same dream of playing in the NBA. He’s even felt that dream slip away. That’s why he feels ready to be the Lakeland team’s general manager.

“For me, what gives me the right (to give advice) is that I’ve been there,” Parker said. “I’ve walked that journey, been on doorsteps of the NBA and, for whatever reason, that door didn’t open. I didn’t stick. That whole journey I’ve walked. That just gives a little credibility to what I would say.” 

A big brother

Anthony Michael Parker was born to Sara and Larry Parker on June 19, 1975, the oldest of three children.

The Parkers moved around the Midwest from Iowa to St. Louis before settling in Naperville, Ill., where Anthony Parker calls home.

Basketball was a constant for Parker and his siblings, Marcus and Candace.

Though Candace, currently a WNBA star with the Los Angeles Sparks, is 11 years younger than her oldest brother, the trio was close growing up. Anthony and Marcus were competitive in everything from basketball to video games.

And while Anthony let Candace win in sports, Marcus, now a doctor, never did.

“It was really our parents,” Parker said. “They really ingrained in us the work ethic and what it takes to excel, but also to not be limited. They taught us to dream big and to try things; to not think you’re going to be perfect.”

Parker spends more time watching basketball for work than he does for fun these days but, when the Sparks are playing, he always finds a way to tune in. It’s a time where the big brother can sit down and watch his little sister play.

Candace has been one of the top women’s basketball players in the world over the past decade, winning MVP awards and championships both at the WNBA and college level. When it gets down to it, Anthony takes pride in being Candace Parker’s brother.

“I enjoy it,” he said. “It’s like I’m that crazy dad in the stands when I’m watching Candace. I’m screaming, yelling. I’m mad at her. She’s Candace Parker to everybody else, but she’s little sister to us.” 

Tel Aviv

When Parker and his wife landed in Israel in 2000, they weren’t sure what to expect. They didn’t know much about the country. He just wanted to get his playing career back on track.

“At that point, I had basically not played for three years straight,” he said. “I was just anxious to play. I just wanted to play, get some confidence back and see how good I could be as a basketball player.”

What they experienced was, by all accounts, a great basketball experience.

They also lived 45 minutes from a war zone as then-Israeli Minister of Foreign Affairs Ariel Sharon visited the Jewish and Muslim holy site, Temple Mount, in Jerusalem. That visit marked the beginning of a violent revolt by the Palestinians.

Two weeks into their new life, the Parkers were a short drive from the second intifada. Luckily, it wasn’t something that impacted their daily lives.

“We were nervous, but you don’t feel it in the streets,” he said. “You don’t feel it in normal life.”

Parker blossomed on the court in Israel, leading Maccabi Tel Aviv to a pair of EuroLeague championships in 2004 and 2005. They won the Israeli Super League in 2002, 2004 and 2005 as Parker was twice the EuroLeague’s Most Valuable Player.

He calls the basketball a blessing, but is most grateful for the relationships he built during the seven years he spent overseas.

“I feel confident I can sit down with most anybody and talk about things, whether it’s places we’ve traveled or different languages they or I might know,” he said. “We have friends all over the world. For me, that’s the most rewarding part about the journey overseas.”

'I've been blessed'

Some players retire from the NBA and leave basketball behind.

It’s a lifestyle, playing the game each and every day for the better part of your teenage and adult life. Sometimes, players want to step away from that.

Parker, who finally achieved his dreams of becoming a legitimate NBA player upon returning in 2006, isn’t that kind of guy.

“I admired him as a player, he was a terrific player," said Lakeland Magic head coach Stan Heath. "He’s got a basketball mind and I see it when it comes to evaluating players; talking about some of the strategies, things that are necessary for a guy to be successful at this level. He’s been there.”

While he spent the second chapter of his NBA career in the shadow of stars like LeBron James and Chris Bosh, he was a key cog in the successes of the Toronto Raptors and Cleveland Cavaliers teams that made it to the postseason.

He was a deft shooter from the perimeter, hitting 40 percent from 3-point range for his career. He was a star in Europe, and while he never reached that stature in the NBA, he was able to experience being a professional athlete like he had dreamed of as a child.

“I’ve been blessed to be on the same team with Allen Iverson, Chris Bosh and LeBron James,” he said. “Just amazing talents, but great people, too — to get to know them as people and see what kind of teammates they are, to see them perform on that stage night after night, what they put into the craft.”

After leaving as a player, Parker dabbled in broadcasting, first for the Cavaliers radio affiliate in Cleveland before doing some radio broadcasts for Saint Leo basketball and some NBA playoff analysis on NBA TV.

But scouting is where he wanted to be.

“I think as a player you kind of know who can play and who can’t and whatever,” he said. “To actually have to write out a report and whoever reads that report has to see what you saw — that’s an art that you develop over time."

Lloyd, the Orlando's assistant general manager, actually grew up in the Chicago suburbs near Parker. Their high school teams met one year and, though Parker plays it down, he had his way against Lloyd’s team.

While their paths have been intertwined throughout the years, Lloyd took Parker under his wing when both were hired by the Magic organization in 2012.

Lloyd, a former scout with the Chicago Bulls, has high expectations for Parker as an executive.

But much of that stems from Parker’s humility as a person and friend.

“He’s not Anthony Parker, the former NBA player,” Lloyd said. “He’s Anthony Parker, the guy, and to approach things like that — it’s very, very well received.”

Brady Fredericksen can be reached at brady.fredericksen@theledger.com or 863-802-7553. Follow him on Twitter: @Brady_Fred.

ANTHONY MICHAEL PARKER

HOMETOWN: Naperville, Illinois.

BORN: June 19, 1975.

AGE: 42.

FAMILY: Wife, Tamaris; sons, Alonso, 14,  and Julian, 11.

EDUCATION: Bradley University, 1997.

OCCUPATION: Lakeland Magic general manager.

GREATEST ACCOMPLISHMENT: Raising my two boys.

FAVORITE FOOD: Steak.

FAVORITE TV SHOW: Martin.

INTERESTING FACT: I love asking “would you rather” questions.

PET PEEVE: Chewing with your mouth open.

CAR: Mercedes CLS 550.

FAVORITE QUOTE: “I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel” — poet Maya Angelou.