Tim Duncan
Timothy Theodore “Tim” Duncan (born April 25, 1976) is an American professional basketball player who has played his entire career for the San Antonio Spurs of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Widely considered to be the greatest power forward of all-time, he is a five-time NBA champion, two-time NBA MVP, three-time NBA Finals MVP, and NBA Rookie of the Year. He is also a 15-time NBA All-Star and the only player ever to be selected to both the All-NBA and All-Defensive Teams in every one of his first 13 seasons.
Duncan started out as a swimmer and only began playing basketball in ninth grade after Hurricane Hugo destroyed the only Olympic-sized pool on his home of Saint Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands. He soon became a standout for St. Dunstan’s Episcopal High School, and had an illustrious college career with the Wake Forest University Demon Deacons, winning the Naismith College Player of the Year,USBWA College Player of the Year and John Wooden awards in his final year. Duncan graduated from college before entering the 1997 NBA draft as the number one pick.
Off the court, Duncan is known for his quiet and unassuming ways, as well as his active philanthropy. He holds an honorary degree in psychology and created the Tim Duncan Foundation to raise general health awareness and fund education and youth sports in various parts of the United States.
Early life
Duncan is the only son of Ione Duncan, a midwife, and William Duncan, a mason, and has two older sisters, Cheryl and Tricia. He was born and raised in Christiansted, a town on Saint Croix, one of the main islands composing the United States Virgin Islands. In school, Duncan was a bright pupil and dreamt of becoming an Olympic-level swimmer like his sister Tricia. His parents were very supportive and Duncan excelled at swimming, becoming a teenage standout in the 50, 100 and 400 meters freestyle and aiming to make the 1992 Olympic Games as a member of the United States Team.
When Hurricane Hugo destroyed the island’s only Olympic-sized swimming pool in 1989, Duncan was forced to swim in the ocean and he quickly lost his enthusiasm for swimming because of his fear of sharks. Duncan was dealt another emotional blow when his mother was diagnosed with breast cancer and died one day before his 14th birthday. In her last days, she made Duncan and his sisters promise to finish college with a degree, which would later explain Duncan’s refusal to leave college early. Duncan never swam competitively again, but was inspired by his brother-in-law to turn to basketball.
Duncan initially had difficulties adapting to the game he thought would help relieve his pain and frustration. Nancy Pomroy, the athletic director of the St. Croix Country Day School was quoted: “[Duncan] was so huge. So big and tall, but he was awfully awkward at the time.” He overcame this to become a standout for the St. Dunstan’s Episcopal High School, averaging 25 points per game as a senior. His play attracted the attention of several universities, despite having only picked up the game in ninth grade. Wake Forest University basketball coach Dave Odom in particular grew interested in Duncan after the 16-year-old allegedly played NBA star Alonzo Mourning to a draw in a 5-on-5 pick-up game. Odom was searching for a tall, physical player to play near the basket. Given the weak level of basketball in the Virgin Islands, Odom was wary about Duncan at first, especially after first meeting him and thinking him to be inattentive; Duncan stared blankly at Odom for most of the conversation. However, after the first talk, Odom understood that this was just Duncan’s way of paying attention, and discovered that he was not only athletically talented, but also a quick learner. Eventually, despite scholarship offers by the University of Hartford, the University of Delaware and Providence College, Duncan joined Odom’s Wake Forest Demon Deacons.
Tim Duncan
Chasing the sixth championship
On June 23, 2014, Duncan exercised his $10.3 million player option for the 2014–15 season. On November 14, 2014, Duncan scored his 25,000th point in the first half of the Spurs’ 93–80 win over the Los Angeles Lakers, becoming the 19th player in NBA history to reach the milestone. On February 19, 2015, he passed Alex English to move into 16th place on the NBA’s all-time scoring list with 30 points against the Los Angeles Clippers. On March 4, he recorded six rebounds against the Sacramento Kings, breaking his tie with Nate Thurmond for ninth in career rebounding. Two days later, he recorded three blocks against the Denver Nuggets to surpass Patrick Ewing for sixth overall in career blocks. On April 12, he played his 1,330th career game against the Phoenix Suns, which passed Moses Malone for 11th all-time. He also scored 22 points and passed Kevin Garnett to move into 14th place on the NBA’s all-time scoring list.
The Spurs finished sixth in the Western Conference after 82 games and faced the Los Angeles Clippers in the first round of the playoffs. Their quest for back-to-back championships was ended May 2 as they lost to the Clippers in seven games. Duncan was later named to the All-Defensive second team on May 20 for the seventh time in his career. On July 9, 2015, Duncan re-signed with the Spurs to a two-year deal. On November 2, 2015, in a win over the New York Knicks, Duncan recorded 16 points, 10 rebounds and six assists in his NBA-record 954th victory with one team, surpassing John Stockton’s 953 wins with the Utah Jazz. On November 11, he pulled down rebound number 14,716 for his career against the Portland Trail Blazers to pass Robert Parish for seventh place on the NBA’s all-time rebounding list. On November 14, in a win over the Philadelphia 76ers, Duncan had five blocked shots to become the Spurs’ franchise leader with 2,955 blocks, surpassing former teammate David Robinson’s career total of 2,954. Duncan also moved info fifth all-time on the NBA’s blocks list. After missing the Spurs’ last three games of December due to rest and right knee soreness, Duncan returned to action on January 2 against the Houston Rockets. In his return game, Duncan was held scoreless for the first time in his 19-year career; giving him the most consecutive games with at least one point, at 1,359. Four days later, Duncan scored a then season-high 18 points in a 123–98 win over the Utah Jazz, helping the Spurs extend its franchise-record home winning streak to 30 straight regular-season games dating to 2014–15. On February 10, he returned to the starting lineup after missing eight games with a sore knee. On February 27, in a win over the Houston Rockets, he became the fifth player in NBA history to reach 3,000 blocks. In addition, with six rebounds in the game, Duncan reached 14,971 for his career, passing Karl Malone (14,968) for sixth place in league history. On March 10, Duncan became the sixth player in league history with 15,000 rebounds, completing the feat midway through the first quarter of the Spurs’ 109–101 win over the Chicago Bulls. On March 19, he came off the bench for only the third time in his career to counter the smaller lineup of the Golden State Warriors. With a win over the Warriors, the Spurs recorded their 35th straight home win of the season and their 44th straight at home dating to 2014–15, tied for the second-longest streak in NBA history with the 1995–96 Chicago Bulls. On April 5, in a win over the Utah Jazz, he became the third player with 1,000 victories in the regular season, following Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Robert Parish. Duncan extended his mark as the NBA’s career leader in victories with one team. On April 8, he scored a season-high 21 points in a losing effort to the Denver Nuggets. Having already locked up second seed in the West with a franchise best record (65–13 prior to Nuggets game), all four of Duncan’s starting teammates were rested.