Spurs Power Forward Tim Duncan retires after an illiustrious 19 year NBA career
By Predictem Staff
The NBA says goodbye to one of it’s all-time greats as San Antonio Spurs big man Tim Duncan hangs up his sneakers after an illustrious 19 year career.
The writing was on the wall as the 40 year old’s body was showing major signs of wear as the 2015/16 NBA season got into it’s later stages.
The Wake Forest product joined the Spurs after being selected as the top pick in the 97/98 draft and what a pick that was, as San Antonio would go on to win 5 NBA Championships during his tenure, including winning 50+ games in his last 17 seasons.
How good was Duncan? He led the team to a regular season record of 1072-438 which equates to an incredible .710 winning percentage which is the best 19 year run of any team in any sports (NBA, NFL, MLB, NHL). He led the team to 126 playoff wins, was a 5-time NBA Champion (1999, 2003, 2005, 2007, and 2014), 15x all star, 3x NBA Finals MVP and a 2x NBA MVP.
“The Big Fundamental” retires as the Spurs all-time leader in points (26,496), rebounds (15,091) blocks (3,020) and games (1,392).
Duncan leaves his mark in the NBA history books finishing 14th in scoring, 6th in rebounding, 5th in blocks and 7th in games played.
Other interesting facts:
– Duncan won an NBA Championship in 3 different decades.
– Tim Duncan and Gregg Popovich have the most wins by a player-coach duo in NBA history (1,001)
While it will be a huge loss to the Spurs locker room, they won’t miss a beat on the floor as they have signed another future Hall of Famer Pau Gasol to eat up his minutes.
Tim Duncan was a classy player both on and off the court. He will be missed! Farewell Tim and thank you for the memories!