There were probably reasons why Tony Parker decided not to stick around in San Antonio, but I don’t remember them off the top of my head. They must’ve been pretty good though, because by departing his only franchise and playing for a new team, he lost the 30 percent career-quality buff one-team players get at the time of their retirement.
Like, let’s say Dirk bailed on the Mavs to play for the Bucks. It’s within his rights to do that, but then you can’t think of him solely as a Mavericks legend. Karl Malone found this out. No one even remembers that he was a beast for so long because of his underwhelming one-year stint with the Lakers. Now, that is Parker’s fate. People, looking back, will be like “he was good, but what was up with him going to Charlotte of all places” and that’s the kind of thing that subconsciously lowers his standing in the all-time lists.
Perhaps he wanted to begin forging an identity separate from Gregg Popovich. That’s admirable, I guess, but he probably could’ve waited out Popovich’s retirement instead of going to a random team that won’t even retire his jersey (probably).