Tim Duncan

[wadesworld]

Greatest power forward to ever play the game, and one of the most underrated players to ever play the game, retiring.  Incredible career.

Some of his NBA Finals performances, both individual games and entire series statistics, are insane.  21, 20, 10, and 8 blocks in game 6 of the 2003 NBA Finals.  32, 20, 7 blocks, 6 assists, and 3 steals in game 1 of that same Finals.  Averaged 24, 17, 5, and 5 blocks for that entire series.  27, 14, 2, and 2 blocks in the 1999 NBA Finals, his 2nd season in the NBA.  20, 14, 2, and 2 in the 2005 NBA Finals.

[GGGG]

Retired after the same season as Kobe did.  Two players that were among the best ever and faced off against one another for over a decade.  10 NBA championships between them.  The two retirements could neither have been more different, nor or more representative of their respective personalities. 

Interestingly, Duncan never won a gold medal in the Olympics.  He didn't play for either the 2008 or 2012 teams.

[wadesworld]

Retired after the same season as Kobe did.  Two players that were among the best ever and faced off against one another for over a decade.  10 NBA championships between them.  The two retirements could neither have been more different, nor or more representative of their respective personalities. 

Interestingly, Duncan never won a gold medal in the Olympics.  He didn't play for either the 2008 or 2012 teams.

All good points.

[MU82]

Loved watching Duncan. An absolute stud and a class act.

I enjoyed his personality, too. Kept a low profile while others carried on. Very dry sense of humor. It wasn't "all about me." Really an old-school athlete who marched to his own drummer.

Also, befitting his personality, stayed in college because he loved college. Lots of Scoopers (and others) would have called him "stupid" for doing so.

[nyg]

19 years in NBA and San Antonio made the playoffs each year after he was drafted.  15 All Star teams, 5 NBA titles and 3 MVPs.  Congrats to a great player. 

[tower912]

"The Big Fundamental".    Love his game.   Love his demeanor. 

[brandx]

Greatest power forward to ever play the game, and one of the most underrated players to ever play the game, retiring.

I agree with your 1st point, but disagree with the 2nd. He is generally considered one of the all-time greats and is a consensus Top Ten all-time player.

[MerrittsMustache]

I agree with your 1st point, but disagree with the 2nd. He is generally considered one of the all-time greats and is a consensus Top Ten all-time player.

Nearly everyone considers him to be the greatest power forward of all-time yet he's somehow still managed to be underrated. Doesn't seem logical but it's true.

Small market, low profile, team player, champion.

[brandx]

Nearly everyone considers him to be the greatest power forward of all-time yet he's somehow still managed to be underrated. Doesn't seem logical but it's true.

Small market, low profile, team player, champion.

I understand the point. I think that rather than being under-rated, it's just that he isn't talked about as much as other great players because there is no flash to his game.

[wadesworld]

Nearly everyone considers him to be the greatest power forward of all-time yet he's somehow still managed to be underrated. Doesn't seem logical but it's true.

Small market, low profile, team player, champion.

I agree with this.  When he's widely considered the greatest power forward of all time you'd think he couldn't be underrated, but in my opinion he is.

I agree with your 1st point, but disagree with the 2nd. He is generally considered one of the all-time greats and is a consensus Top Ten all-time player.

That's the thing.  When people bring up top 10 players, I am always more surprised to hear his name than I am when it's not mentioned.  I hardly ever hear anyone list him in their top 10 all time, but I consider him to be one of the top 10 players ever.

[MerrittsMustache]

I understand the point. I think that rather than being under-rated, it's just that he isn't talked about as much as other great players because there is no flash to his game.

Perhaps underappreciated would be a better way to describe his career.

[brandx]

Perhaps underappreciated would be a better way to describe his career.

You described it better than I did.

[Pakuni]

Great story from Etan Thomas:


Here is my Tim Duncan story

So we're playing the Spurs and I get the ball on the post. I inside pivot and sweep to the middle for my jump hook and he blocks it. So as we are running down the court he says to me "that was a good move but you have to get more into my body so you can either draw the foul or I can't block it". So I didn't know if he was talking noise or what so just kind of looked at him confused and said ok. Then, a few plays later I did it again got more into his body and he couldn't block it. I missed the shot and he looked at me and said much better and kept playing lol. I remember calling my boy Zee Chilton and telling him this story lol Tim Duncan is honestly one of the nicest guys in the NBA and the best power forward ever in NBA history. Respect

[HouWarrior]

San Antonio has enjoyed an embarrassment of riches for a long time. An all time nba record .621 winning percentage....one big tank season to get David Robinson, another to get Duncan...almost all the other years are over 500.

Both Robinson and Duncan were class acts...and the spurs are the most successful classy winner in the league, over a sustained period. Even we Rocket fans are fine with the spurs success....we simply dislike the Mavs/Cuban with passion. lol

[GB Warrior]

Duncan will go down as one of the best, most consistent and classiest people to ever play the game. In the most boring sense of the word, Duncan was always an absolute joy to watch.

[MU82]

Great story from Etan Thomas:


Here is my Tim Duncan story

So we're playing the Spurs and I get the ball on the post. I inside pivot and sweep to the middle for my jump hook and he blocks it. So as we are running down the court he says to me "that was a good move but you have to get more into my body so you can either draw the foul or I can't block it". So I didn't know if he was talking noise or what so just kind of looked at him confused and said ok. Then, a few plays later I did it again got more into his body and he couldn't block it. I missed the shot and he looked at me and said much better and kept playing lol. I remember calling my boy Zee Chilton and telling him this story lol Tim Duncan is honestly one of the nicest guys in the NBA and the best power forward ever in NBA history. Respect

Excellent! I love it.

[CTWarrior]

I agree with this.  When he's widely considered the greatest power forward of all time you'd think he couldn't be underrated, but in my opinion he is.

That's the thing.  When people bring up top 10 players, I am always more surprised to hear his name than I am when it's not mentioned.  I hardly ever hear anyone list him in their top 10 all time, but I consider him to be one of the top 10 players ever.

I know he's widely considered the greatest power forward of all time, but the guy was a center.  Agree wholeheartedly that he was an all-time great player and a class act and the game will miss him.  Top 10 all time is a tough call.  I can think of maybe 8 guys who definitely rank ahead of him, after that there are another 10 or so that he is in a group with.

[wadesworld]

I know he's widely considered the greatest power forward of all time, but the guy was a center.  Agree wholeheartedly that he was an all-time great player and a class act and the game will miss him.  Top 10 all time is a tough call.  I can think of maybe 8 guys who definitely rank ahead of him, after that there are another 10 or so that he is in a group with.

Yeah you're probably right, it's really hard to say for certain that a guy is top number X outside of MJ at 1 really.  I guess it's more top 10 caliber, with a small amount of other guys who are also top 10 caliber.

[StillAWarrior]

Yeah you're probably right, it's really hard to say for certain that a guy is top number X outside of MJ at 1 really.  I guess it's more top 10 caliber, with a small amount of other guys who are also top 10 caliber.

It's pretty simple, really.  There are 15-20 top ten players of all time.


Duncan was incredible.  I am happy that he's retiring after this year to further and forever highlight the differences between him and Kobe. 

[forgetful]

Tim Duncan is the first player I'd want on my team amongst any who have played the game in the past 20 years not named Michael Jordan.

Sad to see him go, but glad he didn't drag it out longer.

[wadesworld]

Duncan's Spurs team won 50+ games in all 19 seasons he played except for the strike shortened 1998-1999 season. Crazy.

[MerrittsMustache]

Duncan's Spurs team won 50+ games in all 19 seasons he played except for the strike shortened 1998-1999 season. Crazy.

That '98-'99 team went 37-13 and won the title...and actually won 52 games if you include the playoffs 

[wadesworld]

That '98-'99 team went 37-13 and won the title...and actually won 52 games if you include the playoffs 

Yup.  Amazing.  I'd take 1 50 win season from the Bucks, let alone 19 straight.

[Spotcheck Billy]

Plus Duncan retired via just a Spurs press release in July, not via a season long farewell tour like some do.

[forgetful]

Yeah you're probably right, it's really hard to say for certain that a guy is top number X outside of MJ at 1 really.  I guess it's more top 10 caliber, with a small amount of other guys who are also top 10 caliber.

If I'm putting a team together of the best in the past 30 years:

PG  Magic
SG  Jordan
SF   Bird
PF   Duncan
C    Shaq (even thought he played until 1989, I'm excluding Jabbar from the past 30 years since his prime was mid 70's).