NBA lockout won’t keep Parker from playing

Spurs point guard Tony Parker has made his lockout fallback plan official.

Should the NBA’s ongoing labor standoff postpone the start of the regular season, Parker has signed to play with ASVEL Villeurbanne, the French League team of which he is part owner.

Parker announced the decision, which had been telegraphed for weeks, Wednesday morning on his Twitter account.

In Parker the player, Parker the general manager got quite a steal. The three-time All-Star, slated to earn $12.5 million in the NBA this season, will play for $1,995 per month in France.

“I’ll be playing nearly for free,” Parker told the French daily L’Equipe. “If I play the entire season, we’ll go for the title.”

Whether the 29-year-old Parker actually appears in an ASVEL uniform at all largely will be determined at the collective bargaining table, where NBA owners and its players union face a Monday deadline to settle their dispute before regular-season games must be canceled or delayed.

If a new CBA is reached in time to save the start of the season, Parker will be obligated to remain in San Antonio for Spurs training camp.

Speaking at his basketball clinic in San Antonio over the weekend, Parker said he wanted to inform ASVEL of his intentions as swiftly as possible, with his decision based on the progress of the NBA labor negotiations.

“I don’t want the French team to play the beginning of the season, and then I come,” said Parker, who last month led France’s national team to the country’s first Olympic berth in 12 years. “That would not be fair to them.”