The only modern player who seems share Duncan's dominance and decency hails from another spot, in another sport. Get more commentary from other CBS Local Sports Voices. You don't have to be a geriatric, calcified in the old-world ethos, to appreciate Duncan's singular brilliance and selflessness. But there would have been no sparkling triumvirate without Duncan's willingness to take a pay cut for the overall health of the franchise. So he led his own version of the Big Three, flanked by Manu Ginobili and Tony Parker. And he was among the few modern players to realize he couldn't. Duncan was renowned for forgoing money to get better players, money that other teams would have happily paid him.ĭuncan didn't do it alone. He was so alarmingly consistent you could forget how consistently great he was.Īlso lost in his epic career is his willingness to share the ball, spotlight and salary. Tim Duncan's player efficiency rating as a rookie was 22.6. He had no sprawling entourage, like a great white shark swarmed by a thousand pilot fish. He displayed none of the histrionics that have come to define the modern NBA. We just don't know it yet because there are no extras with Duncan. In a sport that too often hugs the hubris and ignores the low-key people and personas who make teams and players great, Tim Duncan is leaving behind a void in pro basketball. But since we too often confuse volume with virtue, we don't reflexively rate Duncan at the top, which is a shame, if not a crime. He's almost universally regarded as the greatest power forward in history. One of the two years in which he played fewer than 60 was the truncated 1999 season, during which he played in all 50 scheduled games.Īnd, of course, there are those five NBA titles, which forever keep him in the conversation of the greatest players of all-time. He played in at least 60 games in 17 of his 19 seasons. He shot a remarkable 50 percent from the field. He averaged a double-double (19.0 PPG, 10.8 RPG) over his career. He averaged at least 10 rebounds per game over his first 13 seasons. Over his career, he scored 26,496 points and pulled down 15,091 rebounds. presidents), winning five championship rings. There's more than enough on the court to get him under any virtual velvet rope, into the glittering nightclub of immortality. Just crack open the archives, if you must. It's almost a cliche to say a person is more than their job, than the sterile stats produced over a career. But it really is true with Tim Duncan, the laconic, iconic basketball player who just retired after two decades of dominance, and decency.ĭuncan lorded over the NBA for 19 years (during the terms of three U.S.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |