Retiring Spurs forward Tim Duncan penned a letter on the team’s website thanking fans everywhere for their support during his 19-year career. “It was a day later when I had to tell them but when I got back to Jersey, when I started thinking about the process, I felt a little more comfortable staying home”.
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By the numbers, some of the accomplishments of Tim Duncan, who announced his retirement Monday after 19 National Basketball Association seasons, all with the San Antonio Spurs. Duncan, who is widely considered the greatest power forward to ever live, would later be named to 15 All-Star Games and 10 All-NBA First Teams en route to leading the Spurs to five NBA championships.
Dec 25, 2015; Houston, TX, USA; San Antonio Spurs center Tim Duncan (21) looks for a pass against the Houston Rockets in the first half of a NBA basketball game on Christmas at Toyota Center.
Popovich called Duncan the most real and true person he has ever met. He’s surely had more than five outstanding performances against the Bucks in his 35 showdowns against Milwaukee, but for this piece we’ll just focus on the best five.
Looking towards the future for the Spurs, Popovich, who is under contract until the 2018-19 season, said that it is mindboggling to think of a season without Duncan. With Duncan’s National Basketball Association tenure now an object of the past, regret is beginning to set in for those players who weren’t lucky enough to call themselves Duncan’s teammate.
The 0.710 winning percentage the Spurs have posted since drafting Duncan as the No. 1 overall pick in 1997 is the best of any team in the four major American professional sports leagues. Thank you to the fans all over the world. “It wasn’t fun as much”, Duncan said of the decision.
The San Antonio Spurs coach is more of a “I’ll see you when I see you”, type of guy.
“I would not be standing here if it wasn’t for Tim Duncan”, Popovich said, via ESPN.com. I think if you ask any city about their player that is there for their team, they’re going to say the same thing. Kidd, Duncan, a 20-year-old Tony Parker and young Manu Ginobili may have reeled off a two or three titles in a row. “I would not be standing here if it was not for Tim Duncan”.
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Popovich discussed what Duncan has meant to the franchise over almost two decades and the amount of people Duncan has directly affected.
