Tony Parker Says He Almost Cried During Return to Spurs After Injury

San Antonio Spurs point guard Tony Parker said he held back tears in his return to action from injury during Monday night's 115-108 win over the Dallas Mavericks.

"No, it was just a lot of emotion, but almost, almost," Parker said when asked if he cried during his return, per Michael C. Wright of ESPN.com. "I'm always amazed by all the love from Spurs fans. It's hard to describe the feeling, but I was just very excited and just wanted to thank everybody for all the support. The city of San Antonio has been amazing, all the fans, the Spurs organization. It was just a great journey, just a great game tonight."

Parker finished the game with six points and four assists in 14 minutes of play.

The 35-year-old had been out of action since rupturing his left quadriceps in the conference semifinals against the Houston Rockets on May 3. His teammate, Kawhi Leonard, is still sidelined with quadriceps tendinopathy, a similar injury. Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich said Leonard was "making progress" in his recovery on Monday.

"He's getting very close and making progress," Popovich noted. "He's having contact now, and hopefully, we'll get him back shortly."

Even without Parker and Leonard, the Spurs remained one of the Western Conference's better teams and now sit at 13-7 on the season. But getting back Leonard would be a major boost for a Spurs team that was without two of its key contributors for the whole season before Monday night.

Certainly, getting Parker back provided a spark for the team.

"Big lift, especially emotionally more than anything," Danny Green said. "Just to see him warming up with us. I think everybody's just happy for him, just to see him go through that process—the injury first, then taking that process of six to seven months of being out and not being able to play—and what he's meant to us and this organization. For him to bounce back, and come in and play pretty quality minutes, and do it at an efficient rate, I'm just happy for him."

Pau Gasol agreed.

"I just look forward to having more of Tony on the floor," he said. "He's a guy that knows how to play the game so well, has so much experience, will make the right play and will get our team moving. That's something very valuable for us."