Tony Parker digs the finer things, so it made sense that he would try to get a table at the posh Restaurant Iris in Memphis during the Spurs’ stay. Apparently, Restaurant Iris is kind of a big deal, even though we assumed the most exclusive restaurant in Memphis would be a barbecue joint. Anyway, Iris is a nice place, and Parker allegedly tried to get in there on the eve of Game 3 of the Western Conference finals.
Almost immediately, things get unnecessarily weird with the story. The restaurant owner, Kelly English, reportedly confirmed on Twitter that Parker had been denied service. English told the Commercial Appeal that “we didn’t have any availability,” so Parker had to eat room service. Parker, for his part, denies it ever happened.
“This is a new way of doing promotion now, using my name?” Parker told the San Antonio Express-News. “It’s definitely false. I don’t know why you keep fueling that. I guess he’s going to have a lot of people now going to his restaurant because you guys keep talking about it.”
Ah, celebrity culture, where a restaurateur will tell everyone that a famous professional athlete was turned down to make the exclusive spot seem even more exclusive, while said professional athlete will deny ever trying to get in rather than damage his reputation for being able to get a table anytime, anywhere he wants.
