Tim Duncan retires - Basketball’s finest technician

Jay Asser 23:41 11/07/2016
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  • He’ll be missed: Tim Duncan represented Spurs’ consistency

    Tim Duncan is such a winner that we really thought he had a fighting chance against an all-time undefeated opponent: Father Time.

    It feels all-too-right, yet bizarre at the same time to hear the words ‘Tim Duncan is retiring’. In a human sense – as in literally based on biology – we knew this day was coming, especially after this past season ended. The guy is 40 years old after all and clearly not the same player.

    But it’s still somewhat surprising because even though I can’t prove it, I’ve assumed one of two theories. Duncan is either a robot, or he’s discovered the Lazarus Pit. How else can you explain his 19 years of excellence, season after season, even including the campaign that just ended?

    Sure, his numbers were way down this year and he logged limited minutes, but he still looked like his old self at times on the court. For proof, look no further than what will go down as his last game, when he tried to stave off San Antonio’s playoff elimination with sheer will.

    It’s also crazy to think he’s calling it a career after the Spurs just enjoyed their best regular season in franchise history with 67 wins, but it’s fitting at the same time. They’ve been a perpetual 50-win team with Duncan, so he’s going out in the midst of the evergreen consistency he helped establish.

    Duncan’s just a winner, through and through. There are what feels like an endless amount of numbers and stats to support his title as one of the greatest ever, but they somehow don’t manage to do enough justice to his legacy because they don’t show how he won.

    His leadership, personality and unselfishness were just as crucial to San Antonio’s sustained success as his signature mid-range bank shot off the glass. Speaking of his famous bank shot, how symbolic that arguably the first thing we’ll remember about Duncan as a player when we look back is his mastery of the fundamentals.

    Not high-difficulty fadeaways or rim-rattling dunks, but simple plays he wielded like a technician or someone who solved the game of basketball. He was so uncool that he was cool. And that leaked into his fashion sense, by the way. Let’s never forget the department store jeans or dad-like t-shirts.

    But all of that, including his soft-spoken demeanour and limelight-shedding attitude, was part of what made him more than great. It made him unique. It’s sad to think we’ve seen the last of someone we never thought we’d see the last of.

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