What’s next for Spurs veteran Duncan is anybody’s guess
As Tim Duncan’s erstwhile mentor, devoted friend and fan, Dave Odom had no idea if the stunning conclusion of Duncan and the San Antonio Spurs’ season Thursday night also meant the termination of his quietly magnificent 19-year career. “I never hear him comment on that,” said Odom, who first saw Duncan play at an outdoor court overlooking the Caribbean in St. Croix, then recruited him and coached him for four years at Wake Forest.
In a telephone interview from his home in North Carolina, Odom paused and drew the most obvious NBA contrast: “Kobe Bryant’s farewell was fine, but that would never be Tim’s way.”
The 60-points-on-50-shots, selfglorification way, he meant. Duncan went down with the Spurs in Oklahoma City, a 67-win regular-season team that, under adrenaline-heightened playoff circumstances, wasn’t athletic enough, particularly in the legs.
That the Spurs were comparatively plodding was obvious in Game 6 of the Western Conference semifinals as Gregg Popovich, the only pro coach Duncan has known, operated frantically to slow the Thunder’s second-quarter surge. With only one superior athlete — Kawhi Leonard — Popovich had too many players who couldn’t keep up with, much less contain, Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant. Much as he was made out to be a shell of his all-timer self for the first five games, Duncan was on the floor, scoring 19 points, setting those famil- iar sturdy high screens, clogging the lane on defence, for the Spurs’ only competitive periods in the first and final quarters.
He graciously congratulated the Thunder on moving on to face Golden State in the conference final and walked off with an index finger raised — for Duncan, as demonstrative as it gets.
About what comes next, at age 40, he said, “I’ll get to that after I get out of here and figure life out.”
He could return, taking up a mere $5.6 million (U.S.) in salary cap space and not necessarily hamstringing the Spurs in trying to retool.
Duncan could also concede that his extraordinary run and partnership with Popovich and the others have run their course.
Without them, without Duncan, the San Antonio Spurs as we have known them do not exist.
“Here, in my opinion, is the essence of Tim,” Odom said Thursday afternoon, a few minutes after texting Duncan his best wishes for Game 6.
“He was never afraid to win, nor was he ever afraid to lose.”