Earlier this week, Spurs power forward Tim Duncan retired after playing 19 seasons and winning five championships in the NBA. He's competed against Karl Malone, Reggie Miller, Shaquille O'Neal, Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, and Andrew Wiggins. He's virtually a living basketball history exhibit. What's even more impressive is that he played all 19 seasons in a San Antonio Spurs uniform. In an era where even the best of players typically play for at least three teams, Tim Duncan played for just one.
When it comes to looking back on Tim Duncan's career, it's hard to know where to begin. The man has accomplished so much and in the process said very little about himself, choosing to put his team first. He always shied away from the spotlight and never wanted to be the center of attention. He never went for the Top 10 play on Sports Center and didn't give a crap that he played a more finesse style that was less flashy. If banking a turnaround jump hook off the glass was the best shot, then that would be the shot he would roll with. He honestly didn't care if it wasn't as flashy because he was consumed with one thing and that one thing was winning.
Duncan's selfless approach to the game of basketball yielded a lot of fruit for him personally. In addition to winning five championships, he won the NBA Finals MVP award three times, NBA regular season MVP award two times, been named to the NBA All-Star Team 15 times, the All-NBA First and Second Defensive Teams a combined 15 times, and the All-NBA First Team 10 times. Plus, he won the NBA All-Star Game MVP Award in the year 2000.
If there is any player who I can compare Tim Duncan to in NBA history, it would be Bill Russell. Like Tim Duncan, Bill Russell won a lot of championships with one team and was the centerpiece of those championship teams (Boston Celtics). Bill Russell won 11 championships and five NBA MVP awards and did it while not being the flashiest player of his era, which was Wilt Chamberlain. Bill Russell says the most excited he's ever been on a basketball court is when he won his first championship during grade school. He was so excited that his team won even though he himself hardly played any minutes. He says what made him so excited was the fact that his team won and that was all he cared about.
Tim Duncan has a similar attitude. Towards the end of his career, he didn't care that he was no longer the best player on his team. He happily let Kawhi Leonard and LaMarcus Aldridge take over those roles because what he cared about was winning championships, not personal accolades. Don't get me wrong, Tim Duncan didn't mind winning all those MVPs, but personal awards and recognition wasn't his aim. Winning championships was his aim and the personal awards followed as a result. Let that be a lesson to all you young basketball players out there! If you make winning your priority, good things will come your way as a result.
As far as where Tim Duncan ranks among the games' greatest players, I'm not sure he's a top-ten player from a one-on-one standpoint. But, if you are ranking the games' greatest players from the standpoint of team player and franchise centerpiece, he has to be in the top-five behind only Bill Russell, Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.
To help you better understand this train of thought, when ranking the games' greatest players based on their individual achievements, one-on-one abilities, and overall package (both physical and skill), I would rank LeBron James ahead of Tim Duncan. But, given that Tim Duncan has won five championships all with one team and been the cornerstone of that franchise for the last 19 years, he's been a better team player and championship centerpiece.
The beauty of Tim Duncan is that he did everything the right way. He didn't leave San Antonio to chase rings somewhere else, he didn't let his ego blow up a franchise, and he didn't have to be the one who scored the most points. He's the ultimate team player because he put his team first and understood that winning championships was a team effort. In his prime, he was no doubt the best player on those Spurs championship teams, but he still made sure everybody understood it was the San Antonio Spurs who won the championship and not Tim Duncan.
What separates Tim Duncan from guys like Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, and even to some extent Shaquille O'Neal, is the fact that he was never on a quest to win championships for HIMSELF. He was always on a quest to win championships for his TEAM and never once was he consumed with the whole "I gotta get this many rings to be considered great" plague that has in many ways been a curse for so many players.
It's not that Tim Duncan didn't care about his legacy so much as he wanted his legacy to be about putting his team first and letting his game speak for itself. As a result, he goes down as perhaps the most successful basketball player since the great Bill Russell, a man who had the same approach to the game. Hopefully more young basketball players will see Tim Duncan as THE player to model their game after as opposed to guys like Kobe Bryant, who at the end of the day are only worried about themselves.
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