SportsNOW blog – Who is this Tim Duncan guy anyway?

Tim Duncan has officially announced his retirement – in the most Tim Duncan way possible…

The move has left many fringe basketball fans are wondering “what’s with all the talk about Tim Duncan? He’s that big guy that played for the Spurs right?” The fact is, in many ways – they’re right to question who he is, and here’s why.  Duncan wasn’t the look-at-me kind of player that Kobe Bryant, LeBron James and others have been.  He wasn’t the guy that had flashy cars and flashy clothes and flashy things to say in every post-game presser like Shaquille O’Neal or Kevin Garnett.  All Tim Duncan did is win…and he did that – a lot.  He won in the regular season, and in the post-season and of course he won when it mattered most – in the NBA Finals.  If “Just Win Baby” is the mantra – then Tim Duncan is the poster-boy.  For people who have followed hoops for the past 2 decades – there is simply ZERO debate about his greatness or his place among the greats in the history of the game.  His nickname was the “Big Fundamental” for good reason and simply put he’s the power forward that all past and future power forwards will be measured against from this day on.  Think that’s a bold statement?  Let’s look at the numbers.

Duncan played all 19 of his NBA seasons with the San Antonio Spurs.  Only 2 other players (Kobe Bryant with the Lakers and John Stockton with the Jazz) played that long with one team in league history.  During those 19 years he was an NBA All-Star 15 times, an All-NBA Team member 15 times and an NBA All-Defensive team member 15 times too.  He was the NBA’s Rookie of the Year in 1998 and is a 2-time NBA Most Valuable Player.

Still not impressed?  There’s more.  His winning percentage with the Spurs was 71%.  You read right.  The teams he played for during his 19 years in San Antonio won over 70% of the games they played.  No player in the history of SPORTS has done that over a near 20 year stretch.  EVER.  That my friends is called winning.  However if your version of “winning” means championships and being the best when it matters most…he’s got you there too.  Duncan won 5 NBA titles with the Spurs and was Finals MVP on 3 different occasions.  He appeared in 251 playoff games which is second most in league history and basically translates into 3 seasons worth of NBA playoff basketball.  Over the course of those games when the basketball gets harder and harder with each passing round – he averaged 20.6 points, 11.4 rebounds and shot over 50% from the field.  That would be a CAREER season for a lot of NBA players and he AVERAGED that over the course of the playoffs.  Of his 251 post-season matches – he won 157 of them (also 2nd all-time).  No one in league history has recorded more playoff double-doubles than Duncan (164) or blocks (568) and he did ALL OF THIS while maintaining his durability playing an NBA record 9,370 minutes.  Astounding numbers to be sure.

Want some more?  Oh there’s more.  Duncan is one of 3 players in history to win the following awards.  The Wooden Award (given to the Most Outstanding College Player of the Year), NBA Rookie of the Year, NBA MVP, Finals MVP and All-Star Game MVP. The 2 other guys who accomplished that I KNOW you’ve heard of – Celtics great Larry Bird and M.J. himself – Michael Jordan.  He’s also the only player to record 1,000 wins with ONE team and only he and the legendary Kareem Abdul-Jabbar finished their playing careers with at least 26,000 points, 15,000 rebounds and 3,000 blocks.

How about video proof?  You got it…

THAT is why people are talking about Tim Duncan retiring.  I hope I’ve been able to answer your question regarding the quietest, most humble NBA legend of all-time.

Email me anytime:  paul@570news.com

Follow us on Twitter:  @SportsNOW570

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