Parker was born in Bruges, Belgium, and raised in France. His father, Tony Parker Sr., an African American, played basketball at Loyola University Chicago as well as professionally overseas. His mother, Pamela Firestone, is a Dutch model. Parker's great-uncle Jan Wienese is an Olympic gold medalist in rowing.

Parker played for France's Junior National Teams at the 1997 FIBA Europe Under-16 Championship, both the 1998 FIBA Europe Under-18 Championship and the 2000 FIBA Europe Under-18 Championship, and the 2002 FIBA Europe Under-20 Championship. He was elected the Most Valuable Player of the 2000 FIBA Europe Under-18 Championship, when France captured the gold medal, as he averaged 14.4 points and 2.5 assists per game. Parker averaged 25.8 points, 6.8 assists, and 6.8 steals per game at the 2002 FIBA Europe Under-20 Championship. With the French senior national team, Parker has played in the 2001, 2003, 2005, 2007, 2009, 2011 and 2013 FIBA EuroBaskets.  France won the bronze medal in the 2005 FIBA EuroBasket, by defeating the Spanish national team 98-68 in the bronze medal game. As the captain of the French national team since 2003, Parker was slated to lead France at the 2006 FIBA World Championship, but he was unable to play after breaking a finger when he caught his hand in the jersey of a Brazilian national team player in France's final warm up for the tournament. During the EuroBasket 2007, Parker averaged 20.1 points per game and 2.8 assists per game in nine tournament games, but France was defeated in the quarter-finals by the Russian national team. He passed the 2010 FIBA World Championship to recover fully from some injuries he had during the 2009-10 NBA season. Parker returned to the team in 2011, and France reached the finals of the 2011 EuroBasket, losing to Spain. Parker also joined the team for the 2012 Summer Olympics in London. In 2013, Parker and the French national team won the 2013 FIBA EuroBasket tournament.  While playing for France in EuroBasket 2015, in a group game against Poland, Parker scored his 1,032nd career point in the tournament, and in doing so, he overtook Nikos Galis as the all-time leading scorer in the history of the EuroBasket competition. That record was later broken by Pau Gasol.  During the Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Manila, Philippines, in July 2016, Parker announced his intention to retire from international competition, but not the NBA, after the 2016 Summer Olympics. He reiterated that intent after France lost in the quarter-finals in Rio de Janeiro.

Answer the following question by taking a quote from the article: what position did he play?
As the captain of the French national team since 2003, Parker was slated to lead France at the 2006 FIBA World Championship,