Power forward unselfish in career
3,020 blocked shots, fifth on the all-time list.
1,392 games, seventh on the all-time list.
He won his first title in 1999, his second NBA season, pairing up with David Robinson. He won his last title 15 seasons later in 2014 with Tony Parker, Manu Ginobili and Kawhi Leonard. Parker, Ginobili and Duncan won four titles together. Duncan won titles in three different decades, too.
“Tim Duncan is one of the most dominant players in NBA history,” NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said in a statement. “His devotion to excellence and mastery of the game led to five NBA championships, two regular-season MVP awards and a place among the all-time greats, while his understated selflessness made him the ultimate teammate. 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.”
After San Antonio’s championship in 2014, Duncan tried to put in perspective what it meant to join a select group with five rings.
“It’s amazing to think about having done this five times,” he told reporters. “The kind of company I’m in — the people who have had such amazing careers — and having had the ability to have one, and for the stretch, and the span between them, to still be in a situation where we can win or I can win another championship, is just an amazing blessing, and it’s not taken lightly.
“I’m blessed to be in the position that I can sit here and be asked that question and to be on a championship team and to even think about what that means. I can’t explain. It’s amazing to be a part of this for so long.”
San Antonio’s Gregg Popovich was the coach for all five championship teams and has made it clear his success as a coach is directly related to Duncan.
“He feels a responsibility to his teammates,” Popovich told reporters at the start of the 2014 Finals. “He enjoys them. He wants to hang around as long as he can while he’s useful and while he’s having an impact on the game. He takes care of his body; he works out all summer long with a variety of different things, boxing, swimming. He’s very careful about what he puts in his body, so he does everything he can to maintain a level of play.
“At some point that will stop. It will probably be the third quarter of some game on the road some year, and he’ll feel like he’s not as significant and he’ll walk into the locker room.”
It wasn’t the third quarter of a road game.
Duncan, who went about his business quietly and with no need to self-promote, walked away after his 19th season, in which the Spurs won a franchiserecord 67 games but were elimi- nated in the playoffs by the Oklahoma City Thunder in the Western Conference semifinals.
“More than anything, he creates a welcoming environment,” Popovich said. “He doesn’t really judge people much. He allows them to become successful because he’s always somebody who is going to be supportive rather than critical. Now, he’s a fierce competitor, and he wants to have guys around him that are likeminded, but he really gives them room to flourish.
“The other part is he’s such an unselfish player, he makes players better. He allows them to be better players because of his understanding of spatial relationships on the floor and time and score in a game, and he brings it every day.
Duncan helped Robinson, Sean Elliott, Steve Smith, Danny Ferry and Avery Johnson win titles, and he bridged generations, also helping Leonard, Danny Green and Patty Mills win a championship.
For his career, he averaged 19 points, 10.8 rebounds, three assists and 2.2 blocks and shot 50.6% from the field.
In 251 playoff games, Duncan averaged 20.6 points, 11.4 rebounds, three assists and 2.2 blocks and shot 50.6% from the field.
He was a model of consistency and remarkably reliable, playing 1,392 of 1,510 possible regularseason games. Of those games he played in, he won 1,001 times — a winning percentage of .719.
Duncan might have been a team-first unselfish player, but he was also a dominant force. In his first MVP season, he put up 25.5 points and 12.7 rebounds per game. In his second MVP season, he went for 23.3 points and 12.9, respectively.
Right after the Spurs defeated the Miami Heat for the championship in 2014, a reporter asked Duncan if that was his sweetest title.
The season before, the Spurs were 30 seconds from eliminating the Heat in six games. But Miami made an incredible comeback, forced Game 7 and defeated San Antonio for the title.
“For whatever reason, it is sweeter than any other,” Duncan said. “Whether it be because of the time frame, because I’m coming towards the end of my career, because I can have these two here (children Sydney and Draven) and really remember it and enjoy the experience, all of those things make it that much more special.”