One or the other appeared in 13 of the 16 NBA Finals from 1999-2014, and both Bryant and Duncan finished their careers with five championships.
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Over a 19-season journey Duncan went from being the Spurs’ undisputed superstar to a role player, focusing on solid team defense last season and the occasional 15-foot bank shot.
Duncan announced his retirement on Monday after 19 seasons, five championships, two MVP awards and 15 All-Star appearances.
The result was a long period of triumphs for Spurs, whose competitiveness during Duncan’s tenure was the best in the four major leagues of American sport.
And like everything else Duncan did in his career-aside from win-he retired quietly, with a statement from the team.
“I tand here at the end of this ride and look back in awe of what I’ve experienced”.
In his first season San Antonio Spurs fans knew Tim Duncan would be one of the greatest players.
“But if you think about a little bit more earthly, worldly type of people, people who are interesting, I think of people like William F. Buckley on the right and Gore Vidal on the left when they had their debates”.
San Antonio was eliminated in the playoff this past season by the Oklahoma City Thunder. Thank you Tim for all you did for the league and for the Spurs franchise and being the foundation of the Spurs dynasty. But he’s been so important to so many people, it’s just mind boggling. While the move was a mere formality, the club needed to do it to “waive and stretch” Duncan’s $6.4 million salary for the 2016-17 season so that it’s spread out over three seasons instead of one, which lessens the cap hit the team will take.
Duncan averaged 19.0 points, 10.8 rebounds, 2.2 blocks and 3.0 assists during his career. It was subtle, but that was Tim Duncan.
So, weirdly enough, I honestly believe the man when he says he’d rather hang out with Tim Duncan than Jesus, Mother Theresa or any another historic figure to ever across this mortal plane.
Golden State Warriors star Stephen Curry admired Duncan for the way he carried himself. The longtime Spurs core of Duncan, Manu Ginobili and Tony Parker holds the record for most postseason wins by any trio with 126. We’ve been saying it for 19 years and he really only cared about doing the best job he could basketball-wise and being who he was for his teammates and being somebody who loved his family.
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Sounding as if he were choking up at times and wearing a T-shirt with Duncans face printed on the front, Popovich spoke at the Spurs practice facility in San Antonio. “It’s hard to even describe, without sounding ridiculous, what Tim Duncan means to San Antonio”, he says.
