San Antonio Spurs player Tim Duncan with Spurs coach Gregg Popovich, left. The two won more games than any other coach-player pair in NBA history. Duncan announced today he is retiring after 19 seasons with the team. Eric Gay/AP hide caption
toggle caption Eric Gay/AP
Tim Duncan, the long-time star of the San Antonio Spurs, announced today that he is retiring. He helped the team win five NBA titles since he joined the franchise in 1997.
Duncan’s reserved personality kept him largely out of the spotlight, despite his consistently stellar performances with the Spurs, who made the playoffs every year that Duncan played for the team. Duncan was voted most valuable player five times, two of them regular-season M.V.P. awards and three others for his performances in NBA finals.
NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said in a statement that Duncan had earned, “a place among the all-time greats, while his understated selflessness made him the ultimate teammate.”
In keeping with Duncan’s low profile, the announcement of his retirement came in a press release heavy on statistics and light on personal details.
“The 40-year-old Duncan comes off of a season in which he led the NBA in Defensive RPM (5.41) and became just the third player in league history to reach 1,000 career wins, as well as the only player to reach 1,000 wins with one team. He helped the Spurs to a franchise-best 67-15 record and also became one of two players in NBA history to record at least 26,000 points, 15,000 rebounds and 3,000 blocks in his career (Kareem Abdul-Jabbar).”
Many fans on Twitter followed suit, sharing more of Duncan’s many impressive career statistics. Duncan’s name was trending, even though he doesn’t have a personal account on the social media site.
Tim Duncan has more wins than 6 NBA teams:
TIM DUNCAN 1158
Magic 1119
Hornets 939
Wolves 864
Raptors 758
Grizzlies 721
Pelicans 543— NBA Stats (@StatisticsNBA) July 11, 2016
Spurs coach Gregg Popovich told Sports Illustrated earlier this year, “Timmy’s never been a very outspoken or emoting sort of individual on the court. Everybody does it differently.” Together, Popovich and Duncan won 1,001 games, more than any other coach-player pair in NBA history.
Former teammates and fellow NBA stars reacted to news of the 15-time All Star’s retirement with words of praise.
Golden State Warriors coach Steve Kerr played with Duncan for four seasons.
Congrats to Tim Duncan. Probably a top 5 all time player and undoubtedly a top 5 all time teammate. Wow, what a career.
— Steve Kerr (@SteveKerr) July 11, 2016
LeBron James, who recently led the Cleveland Cavaliers to their first NBA title in decades, expressed his admiration for Duncan.
Timmy D you know how I feel about you, what you did for me and for the entire NBA. Thank you for an amazing career! #BestPFEver #Legend
— LeBron James (@KingJames) July 11, 2016
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