SAN ANTONIO (AP) – Tim Duncan spent nearly two decades as the quiet storm in the middle of the San Antonio Spurs franchise, putting the team on his broad shoulders and carrying it to heights unseen in modern American sports.
With Duncan as the focal point, the Spurs won five championships, made the playoffs in all 19 of his seasons and cemented themselves as cemented themselves as the most enduring success story of their era.
And now, the ageless and reluctant superstar is finally calling it a career. Duncan announced his retirement on Monday, marking the end of an era for the Spurs and the NBA.
Duncan was the No. 1 overall pick in 1997 and teamed with coach Gregg Popovich, point guard Tony Parker and shooting guard Manu Ginobili to turn the Spurs from a solid franchise that could never quite get over the hump into one of the league’s superpowers.
The unassuming Duncan won two MVP awards and was one of just four players to be named NBA Finals MVP at least three times. He was a 15-time All-Star, a member of the All-NBA first team 10 times and is one of only three players – joining Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Robert Parrish – to win at least 1,000 games in his career. He is fifth on the NBA’s career list in blocks, sixth in rebounds and 14th in scoring.