I love Timmy. Tim Duncan is the only player in league history to start and win a title in three different decades. Since drafting Duncan, the Spurs posted a 1, regular-season record. That is the best year stretch in NBA history and the best in the four major U.
Duncan partnered with Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich to post the most wins by a player and coach in NBA history with 1, And who can forget that Duncan teamed with Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili to reel off playoff victories, the most in NBA history by any trio — which also owns the most regular-season victories in NBA history — and register as the first set of three teammates or more to capture four championships side-by-side since Magic Johnson, Abdul-Jabbar, Michael Cooper and Kurt Rambis, according to Elias Sports Bureau?
But a look inside Tim Duncan, the man, provides some clues explaining how a rail-thin kid from the U. Virgin Islands — one with aspirations to become an Olympic swimmer before Hurricane Hugo destroyed all the local pools in — took the league by storm and elevated not only the unproven Popovich but an entire NBA franchise with simple, yet crucial character attributes instilled by his parents, Delysia Ione and William Duncan, on the square-mile island of St.
Croix in the Caribbean. Make no mistake. I think with the way Pop and Tim connected it also became a very caring environment. Blucas and fellow senior captain Randolph Childress quickly devised a change of plans after playing only one session of pick-up ball with Duncan. He was so even-keeled and so competitive at the same time.
Duncan would start 32 of 33 games as a freshman at Wake Forest. That one season fighting alongside the power forward made a powerful impression on Blucas. I want to go down to St. Croix for a week or so and see how this all started.
Blucas belly laughs now at the Lonnie Walker IV vomit story, because it reminds him of a similar tale from the visit to St. I cleaned it up. While snorkeling with Duncan on a sun-drenched summer day in St. Croix, Blucas unwittingly stepped on a sea urchin and into his own Lonnie Walker-like story. It hurts like hell. The acid and PH of the urine will actually cut the pain. That was a rarity. It still is as a matter of fact.
Duncan is No. Duncan won his first Finals MVP in , averaging He earned the award again in In his back-to-back MVP seasons in and , he averaged at least And I enjoy it even more now, looking back. Just missing being a part of that but also in the same respect, having gone through it, just understanding how present you have to be every day, every game.
It goes by fast. I look back and I appreciate the entire journey. Duncan never chased the spotlight. San Antonio Spurs. Things to Know Impeccable defense and ability to adapt.
Career Despite being pegged as the No. Already one of the NBA's more successful teams when he arrived in , the Spurs made the playoffs in all 19 seasons with Duncan and won at least 50 games in 18 of those seasons. He averaged at least 20 points, One of his best seasons stats-wise came in , when he posted
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