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Idol to rival: How Suns rookie Elie Okobo is still learning from Hornets' Tony Parker

Charlotte Hornets veteran point guard and NBA champion Tony Parker saw fellow Frenchman Elie Okobo play long before they faced each other in the NBA.

MINNEAPOLIS — Tony Parker has played against Elie Okobo twice in a two-week span, but he had seen the fellow Frenchman play long before that.

“I’ve been watching him for a long time, since he was like 15-years-old, 16-years-old because I own a team in France,” Parker said Friday after practice in Charlotte. “He was on our radar and tried to recruit him.”

Years later, the 17-year NBA veteran for the Hornets sees qualities in Okobo which could help him have a long, successful career, too.