But at the top, there’s little debate among analysts that recent retiree Tim Duncan of the San Antonio Spurs is No. 1.
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Duncan was born in the US Virgin Islands and was a talented swimmer before turning to basketball, partly in order to fulfill his mother’s wish for him to get a college degree: he went on to attend Wake Forest on a basketball scholarship. He is known for his reserved demenour on and off the court and once said “fame is not for me”. Since drafting Duncan, the Spurs won five championships and posted a 1,072-438 regular season record, giving the team a. 710 winning percentage, which is the best 19-year stretch in NBA history and was the best in all of the NBA, NFL, NHL and Major League Baseball over the last 19 years. He holds the Spurs record for the most points, rebounds, assists, minutes played and games played.
Duncan is one of three players to win at least 1,000 games during his career, and he ranks 14th on the NBA’s all-time scoring list. Despite that, Duncan was the face of the franchise and provided a lot of leadership for the team.
Duncan will also be remembered as a player that dominated the playoffs having become the only player to log 9,000 career minutes in the postseason.
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San Antonio Spurs forward Tim Duncan is calling it a career. He won Rookie of the Year the following season.
