Tony Parker, a former NBA star, is the first participant to announce his participation in the World Series of Poker main event in 2021.

The four-time NBA champion, according to Yahoo! Sports, won a charity poker game hosted by The PM Group in January. The former point guard won a spot in the $10,000 buy-in tournament this fall by winning the charity tournament.

Parker spent over two decades in the NBA, virtually all of them with the San Antonio Spurs. He joined the Spurs as a first-round draught selection in 2001 and remained with the team until the end of the 2018 season. Before retiring, he spent the 2018-2019 season with the Charlotte Hornets. He was named to the NBA All-Star team six times and won the NBA Finals MVP award in 2007.

Despite the fact that Parker has no formal record of playing poker at any professional level and has never won a tournament, the NBA is rife with poker fans.

David Lee, a 12-year NBA veteran who spent a considerable portion of his career with the Warriors, was also coached by Hellmuth. Warriors shooting guard Klay Thompson revealed in December 2019 that he was “killed” in team poker games and claimed the roster was full of card sharks.

Paul Pierce, an NBA Hall of Famer, has also been involved in high-stakes poker for a long time. Pierce took the chip lead on Day 2 of the $10,000 pot-limit Omaha tournament at the 2013 WSOP and finished just a few positions short of cash in the 2014 main event.

He just lost his position as an ESPN basketball analyst after sharing obscene recordings from a home game on social media.

The 2021 WSOP will take place this fall, from September 30 to November 23. The main event will take place from November 4 through November 17.