SAN ANTONIO — French point-guard pioneer Tony Parker knows Knicks rookie Frank Ntilikina all too well. As the quarterback for Strasbourg last season, Ntilikina led his French team past Asvel in the French League semifinals.
Parker, the Spurs legend, has owned Asvel for three years and said Ntilikina “was on our radar’’ in 2014 before he joined with Strasbourg.
So there’s no doubt Parker believes the 19-year-old Ntilikina will make it big in the NBA — if Knicks fans don’t eat him alive first.
“Definitely, he’s got the right skills to be good in this league,’’ Parker said before the Knicks faced the Spurs on Thursday night. “He’s a great defender, got length. That’s always good to be good defensively early. Offensively it will come. It’s his first year. He needs to go around the league one time and get used to all the point guards. I think he’s got all the right stuff. I don’t know if New York will be patient.’’
Ntilikina has passed a number of memorable markers in his first year in the NBA but none was as special as playing Thursday against Parker.
Ntilikina, who is averaging 5.8 points and 3.2 assists off the bench, said they’ve never met, only spoken on the phone. Parker corrected that assertion, saying indeed he shook Ntilikina’s hands during that semifinal. Ntilikina is essentially Parker’s successor — only the third French point guard in NBA history along with Rodrigue Beaubois.
“I’m playing against the best French player in history,’’ Ntilikina said Wednesday in Chicago. “It will be a challenge playing against him. I never met him, but talked to him a bit [after the draft] about the transition and defense in the NBA, a little bit about everything.’’
Parker said Ntilikina reached out to his people after the draft.
“I’m always there to try to play the big-brother role, trying to help them,’’ Parker said. “He had a lot of questions.’’
Ntilikina, the eighth pick in the 2017 draft, planned to seek Parker out after Thursday’s game at AT&T Center. He has yet to play for the French national team other than the 18-and-under version, so he and Parker have never been teammates.
Knicks coach Jeff Hornacek said he hopes Ntilikina can learn the angles Parker brings to the game on offense.
“He’s studied his game,’’ Hornacek said. “They’re different. Frank is tall and long and Tony is quick and uses his speed.
“The one thing you can learn from Tony is all his angles. He’s great at mixing it up with the side pick-and-roll depending how the defense played him. That’s something young players can study and Frank is a smart player and studies tape. With Tony he’s seen him for a while as a kid and idolized him. Hopefully if he turns out to be as close to Tony as possible, we’ll take it.’’
During the European championships last summer, Ntilikina followed the Knicks’ advice and decided to train with their coaches in Tarrytown. This summer, there’s no national team action for France.
Because of their heritage, the 19-year-old Ntilikina has heard Parker comparisons. Parker, like Ntilikina, was born in Belgium before moving to France. Ntilikina has different attributes, known as a defense-first point guard while Parker is known as a terrific penetrator. Penetration is one of Ntilikina’s weak spots.
“I think our play is different, but it’s an honor being compared to the best French player in history,’’ Ntilikina said. “Been watching him play [for a long time]. One of the best point guards in European Championship history.’’
Starting point guard Jarrett Jack will give Ntilikina a Parker primer. At age 35, Parker’s numbers and minutes are down — 9.4 points, 4.4 assists in 20 minutes — but he’s still the Spurs floor general after last season’s injury-wracked season.
“Crafty, always pushing the pace, tough going to his right hand,’’ Jack said, citing Parker attributes. “He’s got the footwork of a big man when he gets in the paint. I’ll let him know things I’ve learned from playing against Tony for my 13 years and see what he can do.’’
While Ntilikina had a solid defensive game against Chicago’s Kris Dunn, making a couple of brilliant steals, he was also on the court for part of the Knicks’ late-game collapse against the Bulls on Wednesday. He missed a key jumper in the final two minutes, finishing 3-of-10 with five rebounds. Regardless, Ntilikina likely will get some more valuable lessons Thursday from a French legend.