In the end, Tim Duncan’s brilliance matters far less than the fact that he always got the job done. The vision may have changed but they always pulled it off. It was commitment to the simple idea that basketball, whatever form it took, could be done right.Īt every turn, Tim Duncan and the Spurs knew exactly what they wanted to do and how to realize it. Their Right Way wasn’t a dogma or even a call for orthodoxy. What made them great wasn’t their consistency but the sneaky (often imperceptible) ways in which they managed to keep teams on their heels. Contrary to popular belief, Duncan and the Spurs are evidence of this. In a game almost defined by risk-taking and ingenuity-where predictability is an easy path to failure-it’s hard to know exactly what it would mean to hew to some Platonic ideal of the game. Perfection in basketball is a tricky thing. And while his reputation won’t necessarily grow over time, it sure as hell isn’t ever going to diminish. Although Duncan was never quite given his due, he always commanded respect. He may not have given posterity much thought-you’d hardly have expected him to-but in an era where future Hall of Famers are obsessed with controlling their narratives, Tim Duncan arrived at a near-perfect one without even trying. The team was only able to adapt because Duncan himself, far from standing still, was fairly mutable.ĭuncan rarely made mistakes on the court and his legacy is similarly spotless. It’s not just that he was able to excel in whatever system Gregg Popovich decided to go with, from the grind-it-out, hard-nosed basketball of the early aughts to the more free-flowing, up-tempo game of recent years that predicted the Warriors’ much-hyped style of play. The Spurs are often described as a shadow dynasty, what with their knack for non-consecutive titles and their ability to reload without ever fully pausing to rebuild. Think about it this way: For nearly two decades, Duncan was the bedrock of the most consistently competitive team in basketball. But few players in history of the game have been as essential to the NBA’s ecosystem as Duncan. Tim Duncan Nike Spurs NBA Game Authentic Road Jersey 56. Adidas San Antonio Spurs Tim Duncan Retirement Jersey Authentic Size XL RARE HOF. Without a regular season farewell tour, there will be no closure and in a way, no finality to his announcement. Youll find new or used products in Tim Duncan Regular Season NBA Jerseys on eBay. No matter how often he was overlooked or ignored, his presence was unavoidable.Īs Duncan retires after 19 years, the overwhelming feeling is not one of loss or sadness nor is there the rabid urge to celebrate his accomplishments. Yet you’d never say that the world was indifferent to Duncan. You’d also be hard-pressed to put together an army of TD haters. Duncan and Gregg Popovich have the most wins by a player-coach duo in NBA history (1,001) and the Spurs forward finished his career in San Antonio as one of just three players in NBA history, along with John Stockton and Kobe Bryant, to spend 19 seasons with one franchise.Outside of San Antonio, not so many people love Tim Duncan. As the only player in NBA history to play over 9,000 career minutes in the playoffs, Duncan ranks first all-time in postseason double-doubles (164) and blocks (568), third in rebounds (2,859) and sixth in points (5,172).Īlong with teammates Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili, Duncan is part of the NBA record for most wins by a trio in both the regular season (575) and postseason (126). In his NBA career, the 15-time All-Star appeared in a total of 1,392 games and averaged 19.0 points, 10.8 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 2.17 blocks in 34.0 minutes. 710 winning percentage, which is the best 19-year stretch in NBA history and was the best in all of the NBA, NFL, NHL and MLB over that time. Originally selected by the Spurs as the first overall pick in the 1997 NBA Draft, Duncan guided San Antonio to five NBA championships and posted a 1,072-438 regular-season record, giving the team a.
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