Aged 40 and after nineteen seasons with the San Antonio Spurs, Tim Duncan said Monday it was ending its superb career.
A new page in the history of the NBA has turned Monday, three months after the last game of Kobe Bryant. Tim Duncan (40), which formed with Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili the most effective trio of history, ended in nineteen years of a rich career in the jersey of a unique franchise, Spurs . "The Big Fundamental" five-time All-Star and two-time MVP (2002, 2003), won five NBA championship rings with San Antonio and its iconic coach Gregg Popovich (1999, 2003, 2005, 2007 and 2014). So it has taken the tunic Texas last May 12, when disposing against Oklahoma City in the second round of the playoffs.
Its release, discrete, is the image of a character with unparalleled distinction. No farewell tour, no pomp and glitter but a simple statement. Duncan (2,11m), future Hall of Famer and arguably best winger box of history, is the only player to have won more than a thousand games with the same team (1072, for a success rate of 71% ). He is the leading scorer (26,496 points), rebounding (15 091) and blocker (3020) in the history of Spurs. Only one other player has produced such statistics Kareeem Abdul-Jabbar (Milwaukee, Lakers).
Duncan, and it is also a record, appeared fifteen times in one of the top five defensive in the NBA, including eight times in the first. First choice of the Draft 1997 rookie of the year in 1998, he won his first title, matching the first of his three MVP trophies Finals (1999, 2003 and 2005), the following year, against the New York Knicks Patrick Ewing. He then formed with David Robinson, the Spurs pivot, a feared duo known as the "Twin Towers" ( "Twin Towers"). Neither Ginobili nor Parker had even set foot on an NBA floor.
A native of Christiansted, US Virgin Islands, the legend of the Spurs never missed qualifying for the play-offs. No player has also spent as much time as him on the ground in postseason. If his influence was diminished this season, with the first zero points, his defensive impact, measured by the "real plus minus" (5.43) was still the second largest in the league. Ten-nine-year career, he turned in 19 points, 10.3 rebounds and 2.2 assists in the regular season. The numbers were even more impressive in the playoffs: 20.6 points 11.4 rebounds, 3 assists and 2.3 blocked shots. He should hold a press conference later in the week.
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