“For two decades Tim represented the Spurs, the city of San Antonio and the league with passion and class”.
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In 1997, after an injury to star David Robinson, the Spurs plunged in the standings and ended up with a chance at the No. 1 overall pick.
Duncan spent his entire career with the Spurs, leading the team to titles in 1999, 2003, 2006, 2007 and 2014.
The unassuming Duncan was the only player to start and win a title in three different decades.
It’s the end of an era in San Antonio, as the big three of Tony Parker, Manu Ginobili and Duncan will never be whole again. Also the number of other players (John Stockton, Kobe Bryant) to spend at least 19 years with one National Basketball Association franchise. He was named US college basketball’s top defensive player three times and Player of the Year in his final season before entering the 1997 NBA Draft. Duncan and Gregg Popovich hold the record for the most wins by a player-coach duo with 1,001.
26,496 points, 14th on the league’s all-time scoring list.
Duncan and Popovich have the most wins by a player-coach duo in National Basketball Association history (1,001) and the Spurs forward finishes his career in San Antonio as one of just three players in National Basketball Association history, along with John Stockton and Kobe Bryant, to spend 19 seasons with one franchise.
In true Duncan fashion, the announcement didn’t come with a personal statement, letter, or overwrought Players Tribune post.
Tim Duncan will be remembered as a great player and an even greater man.
For at least the last five seasons of his career, Duncan would face retirement questions. Those are all true centers when Duncan was traditionally a power forward but had the ability to play the center position. “He has done some tremendous things for the game and he’s arguably the greatest power forward of all time”.
53 – Duncan’s career-high for points, set December 26, 2001 against Dallas. Kobe Bryant, arguably his greatest rival, respected Duncan as much as anyone in the league, saying to Marc Stein that Duncan was “more cutthroat than people give him credit for.I loved everything about him on the court”.
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And when it ended with his scintillating 60-point throwback in the final game of the season, somehow turning Golden State’s record-setting 73rd victory into the night’s second story, it was a final reminder that even when there were better teams and better players, he was never far from the spotlight. “No matter what we were doing as a team, whether it was a playoff game or a drill in practice, he was trying to win and he was going to do anything in his power to help his team win”. Bryant scored far more but also lost more, unable to match Duncan’s unbelievable consistency during 19 straight playoff seasons and an NBA-record 17 consecutive 50-win seasons.
