Portal:Basketball/Selected biography/June, 2007

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Anthony Parker is an American professional and international basketball shooting guard currently with the Toronto Raptors of the National Basketball Association. Born to parents who played sports collegiately at the University of Iowa and a sibling of Candace, ultimately the 2007 John R. Wooden Award winner, Parker played high school basketball at Naperville Central High School and then matriculated at Bradley University, where in his third season he averaged 18.9 points per game and converted 42 per cent of his three-point field goal attempts to earn Missouri Valley Conference most valuable player (MVP) honors. Parker was made the 21st overall pick of the 1997 NBA Draft by the New Jersey Nets but was immediately traded to the Philadelphia 76ers, who traded Parker to the Orlando Magic before the 1999-2000 season. Having played just 55 games over his NBA career, Parker was released by the Magic in January 2000 and briefly played in the Continental Basketball Association before moving to Israel to pursue a career with Maccabi Tel Aviv. Parker enjoyed success with Maccabi, helping the team to two consecutive Ligat Ha'al and Israeli National Cup championships and to the 2001 Suproleague title. Parker signed with Virtus Roma of the Italian Serie A in 2003 but decided to return to his Israeli home and to take up again with Tel Aviv, for whom he excelled across the following three seasons, earning the Ligat Ha'al MVP award in 2004 and capturing Euroleague MVP honors in 2005 and 2006 while helping his side to the 2004 and 2005 league championships.

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