MIAMI – Forget being overlooked and underestimated as one of the NBA’s finest point guards, Tony Parker has always had some irritation within him, an even greater annoyance hanging over him. For Parker, winning The Finals MVP in 2007 was supposed to bring validation to his game. Forget recognition as a top guard, those Finals instilled in Parker that he’s a top player in the league.

Parker hasn’t gone anywhere, his brilliant year imprinted all over the Spurs’ season. Everywhere around the Spurs, they all say he took over seamlessly as their best player, and yet one thing has made itself clear to Parker: Outside this franchise, his stature wavers, from one of the best to just another guard, and back. Outside this locker room, the disrespect for his place in the NBA is absolutely reckless.

Just two weeks ago, Parker had been dejected over receiving the outcome that he was left off the All-NBA first team. He never admitted it publicly and has always focused on the Spurs’ success, always worried about properly grasping Gregg Popovich’s schemes. Nevertheless, the snub drove him in the next two games: 26 and 37 points in Games 3 and 4 to close out the Western Conference Finals.

Parker let his teammates know he made the second team on that May 23 afternoon, and they all immediately saw how dispirited he looked. The best professional season of his life at an elite level, another impressive regular season for these Spurs, and Parker believed this was the year he had broken through to the masses.

“As a competitor, you want to be one of the best, and known as one of the best,” Danny Green told RealGM early Friday morning. “He felt a little disrespected, but he knows we’re behind him. That’s big for him: ‘As long as my teammates think I’m the best in the league, that’s all that matters.’”

No matter: Two weeks later, Parker delivered a clinic in Game 1 of the Finals, with 21 points and a flawless display of six assists to zero turnovers and repeated drives into the base of the Miami Heat defense. Popovich never did console the Spurs about what might happen when LeBron James defends Parker – just hand the ball to Parker and let him create his magic.

Still, there was James guarding Parker in the closing moments, using his overwhelming presence to push Parker off stride, off mark. Parker missed an 18-foot jumper with 37 seconds left and James responded with two free throws, bringing the Heat within two points. Out of the Spurs’ timeout, Parker got Chris Bosh to switch onto him, but James swiftly made his defensive stand.

Parker bounced off James’ weight and lost balance, a trim guard colliding against the force of a tight end. LeBron appeared to have all his angles closed, but suddenly Parker found a sliver of room to curl back to his right. Out of nowhere, Parker raised up, double pumped and shot as James swung his left arm by him and banked in a jumper to seal the Spurs’ 92-88 win.

Out of nowhere, it was the ’07 Finals all over again for Parker and James – Parker playing the role of the best on the court and the Spurs celebrating on LeBron’s homecourt.

“Tony did everything wrong and did everything right in the same possession: He stumbled two or three times, he fell over … and barely got it off,” James said. “That was the longest 24 seconds that I’ve been a part of.”

As Dwyane Wade marveled, “Tony is the engine behind everything.”

Even on a night the Heat won the rebounding battle, the Spurs had just four turnovers and had Green knocking down four deflating three-pointers, Duncan going for 20 points and 14 rebounds. As much as it is about containing James and Wade, San Antonio knows it has to be sharp in handling the ball, understanding turnovers will lead to transition breakouts.

“Our control has a lot to do with experience,” Green said. “We have a lot of veterans, guys who don’t panic.”

So often, teams can fall apart in games because of uneasy composure from the coach and mostly the stars. Whenever the Heat would near a double-digit lead, San Antonio kept coming, and Popovich used wise timeouts throughout. And on Parker’s miraculous game-clincher, there Popovich stood the entire play: His arms folded, standing still in front of the scorer’s table.

Eventually, Parker’s teammates clutched him in celebration. “Tony is a confident guy,” Green told RealGM in the corner of the locker room. “He doesn’t need people telling him he’s great – he knows he’s great.”

All these years later, three championships later, the proper respect still hasn’t been paid to Parker. When it was the ’07 Finals all over again on Thursday night, when his teammates came to embrace him, Parker left up one finger – signaling this had been just one win.

Three more wins to go, Tony Parker told them. For Parker, three more to go before he’ll cement a legacy that will be impossible to underestimate anymore.