When the San Antonio Spurs were eliminated from the NBA Playoffs this past Saturday night, they became the first defending NBA Champion since the Dallas Mavericks in 2012 to be eliminated in the first round of the postseason in the following year. And with San Antonio’s exit from the playoffs comes the question about the possibility of longtime Spurs power forward Tim Duncan retiring. But at the age of 39, with some gray hairs popping up more and more in his beard, Duncan is showing no signs of slowing down. Duncan helped the Spurs win 55 games this past regular season and it marked the 17th time in his 18-year NBA career that San Antonio has won at least 50 games. Duncan averaged 13.9 points and 9.1 rebounds this past season as Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich is more concerned about keeping the future Hall of Famer fresh for the stretch run of the regular season and the NBA Playoffs than the stats that he could potentially put up during the season. The Spurs were ousted from the NBA Playoffs by the Los Angeles Clippers last week, but at no fault of Duncan as he averaged 17.9 points and 11.1 rebounds. Duncan was going at it in the trenches with the Clippers duo of center DeAndre Jordan and power forward Blake Griffin as he more than held it own. And for all of those that think that Duncan is ready to hang it up, they should think again.
The game of basketball still appears to be fun to Duncan which trumps age and everything else that some people believe would limit him. Duncan keeps himself in peak physical condition and Popovich does a tremendous job in monitoring his minutes to keep him fresh as well. Although Duncan is no longer the focal point of the Spurs offense, he is still the most important player on the team. The other players on the Spurs immensely respect Duncan for his work ethic and humility along with his leadership. Duncan will get scolded and benched by Popovich which makes his job as the Spurs head coach that much easier as everyone else will fall in line behind him. As a five-time NBA Champion, Duncan is one of the greatest winners of this era and in the history of basketball as well as his Spurs rank up there with other elite NBA teams such as the Boston Celtics of the 1960’s and the Los Angeles Lakers of the 1980’s.
Duncan will head into this summer as an unrestricted free agent and at this point there is no other place that he would rather play basketball than in San Antonio. Aside from Duncan, the Spurs have several free agents on their team such as guards Manu Ginobili and Danny Green. But the Spurs winning system has been in place ever since they made Duncan the first overall pick of the 1997 NBA Draft. Along with everyone else in the Spurs organization, Duncan works hard at his craft and the success that comes along with it. And in an era of professional sports that has been dominated by free agency, Duncan is a throwback to a different time when players stayed with one organization for their entire professional career. Duncan is one of the best superstars of this era. Duncan has seen the wars that go on in the paint of the Western Conference as he has faced the best big men that ranges from Karl Malone to Shaquille O’Neal, along with current NBA players such as Dallas Mavericks power forward Dirk Nowitzki and Minnesota Timberwolves power forward Kevin Garnett. As previously mentioned Duncan isn’t ready to retire from the NBA as basketball is still fun for him. And basketball is still fun for Duncan due to the fact that the Spurs are a perennial contender for the NBA Championship every season.
Duncan is 14th on the NBA’s all-time list for points (25,974), eighth in rebounds (14,644), and sixth in blocks (2,941). Duncan has earned what most people clamor for which is the ability to walk away when he wants to. More than likely the Spurs will leave the decision as far as retiring up to him and when he decides to hang it up, you can expect him to get the carte blanche treatment. There will be a statue of Duncan erected at the AT&T Center in San Antonio along with a cushy front office job for him and a hefty salary for making public appearances when he decides to call it quits. At this point, it is tough to think of the Spurs without thinking about Duncan and when the 2015-2016 NBA season begins, he’ll more than likely once again be wearing the silver and black in San Antonio.
Source: Basketball-reference.com
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