Tim Duncan, in full Timothy Theodore Duncan, (born April 25, 1976, St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands) is a basketball legend. In his youth, Duncan excelled in freestyle swimming and had hopes of participating in the Olympics after seeing his older sister, Tricia, compete as a member of the swim team in 1988. But Hurricane Hugo destroyed all the pools in the area so Duncan couldn’t practice.
He began playing basketball and proved a natural at the sport, but he attracted little interest from college scouts. Duncan attended Wake Forest university where he gained national attention with his all-around play and poise. He was predicted to be the number one pick in the NBA draft following his junior year, but Duncan elected to stay in school. Duncan was an incredible collegiate player even winning the John R Wooden award.
All teams had an eye on Duncan but with the first pick of the draft, the San Antonio spurs bagged him. Everyone assumed that Duncan would make some impact, but how much of an impact, no one could even fathom. Duncan and Robinson started dominating the league and got the nickname ‘The twin towers’. The combination of this center and power forward was unstoppable. Duncan was a great inside shooter and Robinson could go through anyone to get that basket. In 1998 Duncan was named Rookie of the Year. The following season he averaged 24 points and 17 rebounds in the NBA finals against the New York Knicks.
He won the finals MVP and got Spurs their first championship in franchise history. Until 2003 the towers dominated the league winning another championship on the way, their incredible run only to be stopped by Robinson’s retirement. Everyone has a nickname, some boring and others funny. In Tim Duncan’s case, his is pretty self explanatory: “The Big Fundamental”. It sounds pretty boring—though well deserved—and a true reflection of the type of player Duncan has been throughout his entire career.
After Robinson’s departure, Duncan became the captain of the spurs, and Duncan carried his team to another championship while winning the finals MVP for a historic third time, becoming only the fourth player to achieve this feat. With players like Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili at his side they swept the cavaliers in the NBA finals to win Duncan’s fourth championship.
Duncan’s strong play continued despite his (by NBA standards) advancing age. In 2012–13 he was named, at age 37, first-team All-NBA for the 10th time in his career. In that postseason he led the Spurs to the franchise’s fifth appearance in the NBA finals, where the team lost a seven-game series to the Miami Heat. Duncan would retire in the offseason following the 2015/16 season as he was 40 years old and his stats were suffering due to his age.
His captaincy, leadership, the bank shot and incredible sense of the game will always stay in the mind of fans. The most fundamentally sound player to ever play in the league, winning four championships and millions of hearts along the way. Tim Duncan ‘The Big Fundamental’.
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