Tony Parker's first season as a professional head coach comes with a familiar face. Parker, now the head coach of ASVEL Villeurbanne in France, could not hide his excitement when he saw his former San Antonio Spurs teammate Patty Mills walk into the team's practice facility. Even thousands of miles away in the Philippines, where Parker recently visited, he lit up when talking about Mills, who is now the new face of ASVEL.

"Man, I'm super happy," Parker said at NBA House Philippines. "I was super happy when I saw him arrive. It was almost like a surreal moment, you know, when I saw him come into the training center, and I saw his face with the ASVEL jersey, I was like, wow, that's crazy."

Parker took over as ASVEL's head coach in June, adding coaching duties to his long-standing role as the club's president and majority owner. Mills, meanwhile, became Parker's biggest signing of the offseason, joining ASVEL on a one-year deal that will mark his Euro League debut. The two spent nine seasons together in San Antonio, with Parker serving as the starting point guard and Mills developing as his backup and protege. Together, they won the 2014 NBA championship, beating the Miami Heat, led by LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh. For the coming season, the former Spurs guards are trying to bring that winning formula to France.

Parker focused on running ASVEL as an executive after retiring in 2019, but the pull of the court never disappeared. He spent roughly two years preparing for the transition into coaching and officially completed his French coaching licenses along the way. "I was missing the court, the everyday thing, and the connection with the players, and so I wanted to pivot, and I'm so happy with my decision," Parker said. "I had a great experience this summer with the national team. I'm excited. I'm really excited."

Parker's biggest objective as a rookie coach is to establish a winning culture at ASVEL, much like he experienced during his 17 seasons with the Spurs. Parker won four NBA championships alongside Manu Ginobili, Tim Duncan and a generation of players shaped by Gregg Popovich. Now, Parker wants to pass those lessons on to his French club. "When you want to build something, you have to put in the culture," Parker said. "And the stuff that I want to put in place, I know Patty is going to be all in. He's going to be our leader, and so it's great to have him in Lyon. I know he's going to have my back, and we have the same philosophy and the way we see basketball."