Duncan calls it a career
Spurs big man quietly ends 19-year run.
Tim Duncan played his 19-year Hall of Fame career in the NBA with little fanfare. He exited the NBA the same way, with no pageantry befitting one of basketball’s greatest big men.
The Spurs announced Duncan’s retirement Monday morning, and Duncan didn’t provide a statement.
At 6-11, Duncan looms as a towering figure in the game — in stature and in accomplishments. Spending his entire career with the San Antonio Spurs, Duncan won five NBA championships in 19 seasons and was named MVP in 2001-02 and 2002-03 and Finals MVP in 1999, 2003 and 2005.
Considered one of best big men in NBA history and perhaps the greatest power forward, Duncan finished his career with:
26,496 points, 14th on the league’s all-time scoring list. 15,091 rebounds, sixth on the all-time list.
“For two decades Tim represented the Spurs, the city of San Antonio and the league with passion and class. All of us in the NBA family thank him for his profound impact on the game.” NBA Commissioner Adam Silver
After 19 seasons, 1,643 total games, 56,738 total minutes, 31,668 total points, five championships and two MVP awards, Tim Duncan has retired. We take you back through his two decades of basketball dominance, from that 1997 draft day to the fifth and final championship. Date: June 25, 1997 Two months after his 21st birthday, Duncan — the NCAA player of the year during his senior season at Wake Forest — was selected with the No. 1 overall pick by the San Antonio Spurs. The Spurs, a franchise headlined by Hall of Fame big man David “The Admiral” Robinson, stumbled upon the first pick after a franchise-worst 20-62 season. A season in which Robinson was limited to six games as a result of back and foot injuries. Date: April 28, 1998 The same 20-win Spurs team that felt the ill-effects of Robinson’s injuries the year before quickly transformed into a 56win championship contender after drafting Duncan and naming Gregg Popovich head coach. Coincidence? The Spurs fell short in the Western Conference semifinals to the Utah Jazz, but the franchise was clearly on the right track. Duncan was a key contributor in the turnaround, posting 21.1point, 11.9-rebound, 2.7-assist, 2.5-block numbers while shooting 54.9% from the field and playing a team-high 39.1 minutes — and he was named rookie of the year. He was a nearunanimous decision, raking in 113 of 116 first-place votes, and was also named to the All-NBA first team, becoming the first rookie to do so since Larry Bird in 1980. Date: June 25, 1999 In his second season, Duncan became an NBA champion. With regular-season averages of 21.7 points, 11.4 rebounds, 2.4 assists and 2.5 blocks, Duncan — side-by-side with a healthy Robinson — led the Spurs to a league-best 37-13 record (shortened by lockout). After handily advancing past the Minnesota Timberwolves, Los Angeles Lakers and Portland Trail Blazers in the first three rounds of the postseason, the Spurs knocked off the New York Knicks (4-1) for the first championship in franchise history. Duncan, who averaged 27.4 points, 14.0 rebounds, 2.4 assists and 2.2 blocks, was named Finals MVP, becoming the second-youngest player (23) in NBA history to do so, behind Magic Johnson. Date: April 11, 2000 Duncan suffered a torn lateral meniscus in his left knee late in his third NBA season. The Spurs, who entered the postseason as the fourth seed in the West, only managed to win one game and were quickly sent home by the Phoenix Suns. A disappointing finish at the time, of course, but the decision to rest the 24-year-old and let his knee heal would turn out to be one of the most important calls of Popovich’s Hall of Fame coaching career. Date: Dec. 26, 2001 Duncan, known as The Big Fundamental for his silky-smooth offensive skill set, didn’t make a living torching defenses with explosive dunks or alley-oop finishes, but that’s not to say he didn’t have his fair share of dominant offensive performances. The day after Christmas in the 2001-02 season was one of those performances. Duncan was as locked in as ever, knocking down 19 of his 28 shot attempts on the way to a career-high 53-point outing in 50 minutes on the floor. The Spurs lost the game in overtime, but not because of Duncan, who was 15-of-15 from the free throw line and added 11 rebounds, four assists and three blocks. Date: May 9, 2002 After five seasons, with five AllNBA first team and four AllDefensive first team selections, one championship and one Finals MVP, and a season after finishing second in the regularseason MVP race to Allen Iver- son, Duncan added to his already-impressive résumé with his first MVP award. He posted career-high (at the time) averages of 25.5 points and 12.7 rebounds while leading the Spurs to a 58-24 finish for the second consecutive year. They eventually lost in the Western Conference semifinals to the Lakers, but Duncan’s emergence as a franchise cornerstone was undeniable. Date: May 5, 2003 Another year, another MVP award. With season averages of 23.3 points, 12.9 rebounds, 3.9 assists and 2.9 blocks, Duncan became the eighth player in NBA history, and the first since Michael Jordan (1991 and ‘92), to win backto-back MVPs, as he led the Spurs to an NBA-best 60-22 record in the regular season. Date: June 15, 2003 While there may not have been a definitive passing of the torch moment from Robinson to Duncan, when The Admiral played his final game, a Finals-winning Game 6 against the New Jersey Nets, Duncan was officially handed the keys to one of the NBA’s most dominant franchises. Duncan put up 21 points, 20 rebounds, 10 assists and eight blocks in Game 6 and finished the series with averages of 24.2 points, 17.0 rebounds, 5.3 assists and 5.3 blocks in one of the most dominant Finals in NBA history. Date: May 13, 2004 In a knock-down, drag-out Game 5 of the Western Conference semifinals against the Lakers, Duncan responded to a Kobe Bryant go-ahead basket with a fadeaway go-ahead of his own that splashed home with 0.4 seconds remaining. The shot itself, in the face of Hall of Fame center Shaquille O’Neal, would have been one of the most monumental shots of Duncan’s career ... if it weren’t for Derek Fisher, who proceeded to knock down one of the more recognized buzzer-beaters in NBA postseason history on the next possession. The Lakers went on to win the series, putting an end to the Spurs’ quest for back-to-back titles. Date: June 23, 2005 Duncan — alongside a young Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili — came back with a vengeance. With a 59-23 regular-season record, the second-seeded Spurs rolled through the first three rounds of the playoffs, losing just four games. In the Finals against the Detroit Pistons, during an 81-74 Game 7 victory, Duncan struggled from the field (10-for-27) but scored 25 points and grabbed 11 rebounds on the way to his third Finals MVP and his first title without Robinson. He became the fourth player in NBA history (Jordan, Johnson, O’Neal) to win three Finals MVPs. Date: June 14, 2007 The Spurs’ franchise-best 63-win season the year before was cut short in the second round of the playoffs by Dirk Nowitzki’s Dallas Mavericks. But, as it did in years past, San Antonio made a mockery of the postseason op- position on the way to the 2007 Finals. Once the Spurs got there, it was more of the same. Experienced and hungry for another ring, San Antonio cruised to a 4-0 Finals victory against a 22-year-old LeBron James-led Cleveland Cavaliers squad. Parker (24.5 points, 3.3 assists, 5.0 rebounds) edged Duncan, who averaged 18.3 points, 11.5 rebounds, 3.8 assists and 2.3 blocks, for Finals MVP. Date: Dec. 2, 2013 At 37 years, 221 days old, Duncan — with his game-winning fadeaway jumper against the Atlanta Hawks — became the oldest player in NBA history to record a 20-point, 20-rebound game. It was the 22nd 20-20 game of his career. Date: June 20, 2013 For the first time in team history, the Spurs lost in the NBA Finals. It happened on a Ray Allen game-tying three-pointer, which led to a Heat win, kept Miami alive and set up a 95-88 seriesclinching Game 7. Duncan posted team-high averages of 18.9 points and 12.1 rebounds over the course of the seven games, but it ultimately wasn’t enough. Date: June 15, 2014 A year later, the Spurs got their revenge. Duncan, at 38 years old, averaged 15.4 points, 10.0 rebounds and 2.0 assists and shot 56.9% from the field as the Spurs handily took down Miami’s Big Three in five games. Spurs 22-year-old defensive specialist Kawhi Leonard was named Finals MVP, but Duncan played a pivotal role for his fifth and final ring, 15 years after winning his first. Date: April 5 Duncan became the third player in NBA history to reach the 1,000-win plateau, joining Hall of Fame big men Kareem AbdulJabbar and Robert Parish. But, the game was far from your classic Duncan performance, as he scored three points, two assists and two rebounds in 24 minutes of play, just weeks before his 40th birthday. Date: May 12 In what would turn out to be the final game of his career, Duncan scored 19 points and grabbed five rebounds in a Western Conference semifinals loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder. It was his best game of the 2016 postseason. In the previous nine games, he failed to score in double digits and, in Game 4 of the Western Conference semis, was held scoreless for the first time in his postseason career (249 games). So famously deemed Timeless Tim Duncan for his ability to fend off Father Time year after year, the 40-year-old looked like a 40-year-old. Date: Monday As a leader of one of the most dominant franchises in basketball history, with a career overflowing with accolades, Duncan ended it with a short news release sent out by the Spurs. No fancy farewell tours or news conferences.