The first time Tim Duncan celebrated an NBA championship, LeBron James had something to celebrate, too.
Finishing his first year of high school.
Much has been made about the growing rivalry between the King and The Big Fundamental, owners of a combined six NBA titles, six MVP awards, five Finals MVP awards and a 1-1 record against each other in the Finals. Duncan’s Spurs beat LeBron’s Cavaliers in 2007. LBJ returned the favour last year.
But none of it would have been possible if not for the 38-year-old Tim Duncan’s physics-defying, age-denying 17-year career.
At an age when NBA players hit the golf course, Duncan’s still hitting the glass – 9.7 boards a game, to go with a 15.3 ppg average. Which made Duncan’s longevity a favourite topic at Wednesday’s Media Day.
“I think he’s one of the greatest to ever play our game,” LeBron said of Duncan. “He is still solidifying his legacy at this point, just because in the sense that he’s playing at the one of the highest levels of any guy that’s played this long. To keep this team and this franchise relevant over 15 years is amazing. To see what he does on the floor every single night and year after year people count him out and count this franchise out, because of this whole old epidemic that we have in sports, just lets you know what type of person and what type of player and passion he has for the game.”
Spurs coach Gregg Popovich positively gushed about Duncan, with whom he’s spent TD’s whole career.
“He feels a responsibility to his teammates,” Popovich said. “He enjoys them. He wants to hang around as long as he can while he’s being – while he’s useful and while he’s having an impact on the game.”
That impact’s been big this year.
Duncan’s racked up a 6.6 NetRtg in 2013-14, which means that the Spurs are 6.6 better than their opponents per 100 possessions when their leader’s on the floor – a number that balloons to 9.9 this postseason.
What’s Duncan’s motivation to keep going? Winning, for one. And part of that means reflecting on last year’s loss, when he missed a shot just a few feet from the rim to give the Heat a chance to come back in Game 6 – leading to Ray Allen’s 3-pointer.
“It lasts,” he said. “I have a very good memory, especially for my misses and losses. You keep those, you learn from them and you hope to change ‘em next time. Yeah, that stuck in my mind, and obviously it’s always in the back of my mind, and every time I see anything to do with that, it pops right back in.”
Will Duncan retire anytime soon?
“I’ve not come to that point yet,” Duncan said. “I don’t know when that’s going to come about.”
Said Popovich: “It will probably be the third quarter of some game on the road some year, and he’ll feel like he’s not as significant and he’ll walk into the locker room.”