CLEVELAND, Ohio - Anthony Parker, Bradley's 1996 Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Year, confirmed his plans to retire from the NBA in an email exchange with the Cleveland Plain Dealer, according to a published report on the newspaper's website June 27.
Parker discussed his professional playing career, his days at Bradley and his future plans with Dave Snell and that conversation may be heard by clicking the link in the "Related Links" box to the right.
Parker played the final three seasons in a 9-year NBA career with the Cleveland Cavaliers, teaming with LeBron James for the NBA's best regular-season record in 2009-10 before taking on more of a leadership role for a young team the last two seasons after James' departure for Miami.
The 21st overall pick in the 1997 NBA Draft by New Jersey, Parker was traded on draft night to Philadelphia, where he began his pro career. After three injury-plagued seasons with the 76ers and Orlando, Parker took his game overseas and became a star with Maccabi Tel Aviv, helping the team to five Israeli Premier League championships from 2001-06, as well as five Israeli Cups and three Euroleague titles (2001, 2004 and 2005). A two-time Euroleague MVP, Parker was named one of the top 50 players in the 2007-08 celebration of 50 years of European Club basketball.
A 6-foot-6 shooting guard, Parker returned to the NBA in 2006 by signing a free agent contract with the Toronto Raptors and he had been one of the league's most-accurate 3-point shooters the last six seasons. In total, Parker played in 494 NBA games, including 423 starts, and averaged 9.1 points, 3.2 rebounds and 2.3 assists in 27.8 minutes per game. Parker drained 40.4 percent (596-1,474) of his career 3-point field goal attempts and he scored 4,717 regular-season and playoff points in his nine seasons.
In addition to his statistical numbers, Parker won the Atlantic Division's 2007 NBA Sportsmanship Award in a league-wide vote of players.
Selected to Bradley's 15-player Team of the Century during the program's 100-year anniversary celebration, Parker played at Bradley from 1993-97. He ranks ninth in program history with 1,683 career points and was a 3-time All-Missouri Valley Conference honoree, earning second-team notice in 1995 and first-team honors in 1996 and 1997. He was voted the 1996 Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Year after leading the Braves to the regular-season league title.
Parker also led the Braves to three National Invitation Tournaments, as well as the 1996 NCAA Tournament, where he pumped in 34 points in a first-round game against Stanford by draining 8-of-10 3-point field goal attempts.
