In a recent interview with ESPN, Kidd reflected on the career of recently retired foe Tim Duncan, looking back on the time he almost signed with the Spurs after his New Jersey Nets just lost to them in the Finals. He was never going to have the victory lap around the league, being feted from city to city, being forced to be at the center of attention day after day.
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Duncan, who was the league’s rookie of the year in 1998 and twice named the NBA’s Most Valuable Player, finishes his career as the Spurs’ leader in total points, rebounds, blocked shots, minutes and games played. He was the foundation of the remarkable run of success over the past 19 years for the San Antonio Spurs, one of the great stretches of play by a franchise in modern sports history.
Duncan, whose nickname is the Big Fundamental, never brought unnecessary attention upon himself. The.710 winning percentage the Spurs have posted since drafting Duncan with the No. 1 overall pick in 1997 is the best of any team in the four major American professional sports leagues.
The 40-year-old big man had one of the best National Basketball Association careers of all-time, and led the Spurs on an unprecedented two decade stretch of consistent winning that hasn’t been matched by any team in any major American sport during Duncan’s career.
“The greatest power forward ever”.
Duncan played for Coach Gregg Popovich his entire 19-year career.
In his time with the Spurs, Duncan joined teammates Manu Ginóbili and Tony Parker to form the Big 3.
Duncan, a three-time NBA Finals MVP and a two-time regular season MVP, led San Antonio to titles in 1999, 2003, 2006, 2007 and 2014.
Kidd wouldn’t make it back to the Finals until that 2011 triumph with the Mavericks as a 37-year-old. “And we found a way to still win, and all do it together”. With him on the team, the Spurs never missed the playoffs or had a losing season.
Thirteen years earlier, Jason Kidd, Tim Duncan, and the San Antonio Spurs nearly set a precedent for what Kevin Durant did in teaming up with Stephen Curry and the Golden State Warriors this summer. And now, the tireless and reluctant superstar is finally calling it a career.
Duncan’s final game was a 99-113 loss to the Thunder in game six of the Western Conference semis on May 12.
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Let’s take a trip down memory lane and look at surefire Hall of Famer Tim Duncan’s top five games against the Milwaukee Bucks.
