VILLEURBANNE, France — Perhaps there is hope yet for the soccer fans around the world who spend hours toiling on “Football Manager,” the intensive computer simulation game that allows players to run clubs and coach their teams. As users bathe themselves in glory — you can control clubs from 53 different countries or manage their national teams — dreams of turning video-game triumphs into real-life feats abound.
That might seem far-fetched to some, but San Antonio Spurs legend Tony Parker isn’t among the doubters. Playing one of the earliest iterations of the game, the French adaptation “L’Entraîneur,” as a teenager encouraged him to dream big.
“He played that game all the time, and he’d say, I want to have my own team someday,” says a smiling T.J. Parker, Tony’s younger brother. No, seriously. “It really started from that.”
Two decades and four NBA titles, six all-star selections,…
