SAN ANTONIO -- The San Antonio Spurs have assigned veteran point guard Tony Parker to their G League affiliate, the Austin Spurs, for a rehabilitation assignment, the team announced.
Parker practiced with Austin on Wednesday and is expected to do so again on Friday, the team said in a statement.
Parker told Marc J. Spears of The Undefeated the practice went well as he is using it to get back into shape. He had no timetable for his return to action.
Conveniently, the Austin Spurs hold training camp this week in San Antonio, which allows Parker to work with the team as he continues rehabilitating a torn quadriceps tendon, which ended his season in May during the Western Conference semifinals.
Doctors cleared Parker medically in September, but the Spurs typically take a cautious approach when bringing players back from injury. The initial timetable for Parker's return was January, but he believes he'll return even sooner if the rehabilitation process continues on its current track.
"They cleared me, but it's still going to be, like, another, I think, two months to get back in shape and getting my leg stronger," Parker told Spears back in September. Parker, 35, originally ruptured his left quadriceps tendon during San Antonio's 121-96 win over the Houston Rockets in Game 2 of the Western Conference semifinals.
The severity of Parker's injury left pundits pondering whether it was career threatening, but the point guard said he never considered retirement.
The organization never issued a specific timeline for Parker's return, and he mentioned early on during his rehabilitation that he expected to return to the court in January.
"I was more frustrated because I was playing so well and the team was playing well," Parker told The Undefeated. "We were getting ready to play the Warriors in the conference finals, and it was just frustrating. Never in my mind was I sad or I thought I would never come back. All those people were saying that. But I didn't even listen, because I was more frustrated that I couldn't be there for my team in the conference finals. That was the most frustrating for me. The rest, for me, in my mind, I was coming back. There was no way I wasn't coming back."