Duncan started playing at a high level and stayed that way up until last season. He had a better overall career than most players you'd consider top 20 all time in terms of sustained success. He was never as single handedly dominant as Olajuwon and since Olajuwon never got a proper supporting cast till later in his career, nearly impossible to truly compare their careers.
Duncan didn't b**** out and play in the East. I guess Lebron's better because he felt guilty into signing back with his hometown team and managed to pull a ship for them with teammates that came from high draft picks and years of tanking post-Decision. Numbers don't lie...
Thank you, Tim, for everything. My Spurs wouldn't have accomplished everything they had without you. You will be dearly missed. Now please help a fellow Texan team out: go east to the Rockets to help them put out the raging dumpster fire.
Essentially everyone gives credit to Duncan for the culture. The whole organization says it has only worked because of Tim Duncan including Pop, Buford, Ginobili, Tony Parker. I dunno how you can now take that credit away and call him a system player when he was the system. Those early years, the Spurs ran such a crap offense. It was Duncan on offense and Duncan on defense. Parker and Ginobili were decent but nothing compared to the 2nd bananas on most championship teams when you look at 2003.
Duncan was better than Kobe by far. 19 seasons without missing the playoffs. You put Duncan on that Smush Parker Lakers team and they still make the playoffs. Kobe always needed an elite big man to even make the playoffs. Beyond that, the fact that people didn't want to play with Kobe, but loved playing on Duncan's team also counts in Duncan's favor. Shaq had a higher peak in the early 2000s when he was completely unstoppable. But overall, Duncan's consistency and longevity puts him past Shaq. Lebron and TD are a toss-up in my mind. Like Duncan, you stick him on some crap team and he can still drag the team to the playoffs or even finals like in 2007. Lebron also has the longevity--dude has never been seriously injured, which is crazy. Lebron probably passes him eventually though at this rate. 6 straight finals appearances is ridiculous.
Spoiler Impossible is potential <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Pop on wearing Duncan T-shirt: " He makes me wear these clothes…He gives me my paychecks, He might as well give me his clothes." <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Spurs?src=hash">#Spurs</a></p>— Tom Orsborn (@tom_orsborn) <a href="https://twitter.com/tom_orsborn/status/752962263766577154">July 12, 2016</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Pop on why he's having a presser and Duncan isn't: "We all<br>know why. It's not Tim Duncan." <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Spurs?src=hash">#Spurs</a></p>— Tom Orsborn (@tom_orsborn) <a href="https://twitter.com/tom_orsborn/status/752962923048296449">July 12, 2016</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">"I figured I better come out & do this & somehow say goodbye to him, which is an impossibility for a lot of reasons" <a href="https://t.co/2Z3Qm1h2tH">pic.twitter.com/2Z3Qm1h2tH</a></p>— San Antonio Spurs (@spurs) <a href="https://twitter.com/spurs/status/752964806655614976">July 12, 2016</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Pop choked up while saying that Duncan would be the 1 person he would like to have dinner with, not "Mother Teresa, Jesus or Dalai Lama."</p>— Tom Orsborn (@tom_orsborn) <a href="https://twitter.com/tom_orsborn/status/752965040320356352">July 12, 2016</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Pop called Duncan, "The most real, consistent, true person I have ever<br>met in my life. He was so genuine, it blows your mind." <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Spurs?src=hash">#Spurs</a></p>— Tom Orsborn (@tom_orsborn) <a href="https://twitter.com/tom_orsborn/status/752965149758074880">July 12, 2016</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Pop compared Duncan to John Cleese: "To spend time with Timmy is really sublime in many ways. People don't know about his cleverness."</p>— Tom Orsborn (@tom_orsborn) <a href="https://twitter.com/tom_orsborn/status/752965651325554688">July 12, 2016</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Pop said a Duncan hand on a teammate's shoulder gave them "a<br>warmth and a comfort" that allowed them to become the best they can be."</p>— Tom Orsborn (@tom_orsborn) <a href="https://twitter.com/tom_orsborn/status/752967401822498816">July 12, 2016</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
This should tell you everything you need to know. If Pop gives him this much credit, wow. This is something people will never say about guys like Kobe. Duncan is one of the few truly great characters this league has ever seen.
"guys like kobe" dude what a cheap shot man. This kind of stuff is rarely said about any human in any capacity.
Somewhat sad the Rockets never played him in the playoffs. I'm pretty sure Houston is the only Western Conference team to not play Duncan in the playoffs.
I meant in the sense of changing an organisation like this, being so humble and in particular the arm om the shoulder comment.
2014 Playoffs were really a bummer... not that regular season results guarantee anything, but we were 4-0 against SA that year and on track to face them 2nd round.
<blockquote class="instagram-media" data-instgrm-captioned data-instgrm-version="7" style=" background:#FFF; border:0; border-radius:3px; box-shadow:0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width:658px; padding:0; width:99.375%; width:-webkit-calc(100% - 2px); width:calc(100% - 2px);"><div style="padding:8px;"> <div style=" background:#F8F8F8; line-height:0; margin-top:40px; padding:39.0625% 0; text-align:center; width:100%;"> <div style=" background:url(data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAACwAAAAsCAMAAAApWqozAAAABGdBTUEAALGPC/xhBQAAAAFzUkdCAK7OHOkAAAAMUExURczMzPf399fX1+bm5mzY9AMAAADiSURBVDjLvZXbEsMgCES5/P8/t9FuRVCRmU73JWlzosgSIIZURCjo/ad+EQJJB4Hv8BFt+IDpQoCx1wjOSBFhh2XssxEIYn3ulI/6MNReE07UIWJEv8UEOWDS88LY97kqyTliJKKtuYBbruAyVh5wOHiXmpi5we58Ek028czwyuQdLKPG1Bkb4NnM+VeAnfHqn1k4+GPT6uGQcvu2h2OVuIf/gWUFyy8OWEpdyZSa3aVCqpVoVvzZZ2VTnn2wU8qzVjDDetO90GSy9mVLqtgYSy231MxrY6I2gGqjrTY0L8fxCxfCBbhWrsYYAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC); display:block; height:44px; margin:0 auto -44px; position:relative; top:-22px; width:44px;"></div></div> <p style=" margin:8px 0 0 0; padding:0 4px;"> <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/BHzFnWvDCI8/" style=" color:#000; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; font-style:normal; font-weight:normal; line-height:17px; text-decoration:none; word-wrap:break-word;" target="_blank">@ViVidStreaming is honored to be the media outlet Tim Duncan chose to share his thoughts post retirement. The decision speaks volumes to his unyielding loyalty to his country, the Virgin Islands. Tune in on the ViVid Streaming App or catch the FB LIVE stream of the interview on ViVid Streaming's FB Page. Also leave any comments or questions you'd like shared with the G.O.A.T. of Power Forwards on our page. Your question or comments might be part of the interview. #Legendary #ViProud #SpursNation</a></p> <p style=" color:#c9c8cd; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; line-height:17px; margin-bottom:0; margin-top:8px; overflow:hidden; padding:8px 0 7px; text-align:center; text-overflow:ellipsis; white-space:nowrap;">A photo posted by ViVid Streaming (@vividstreaming) on <time style=" font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; line-height:17px;" datetime="2016-07-13T10:26:20+00:00">Jul 13, 2016 at 3:26am PDT</time></p></div></blockquote> <script async defer src="//platform.instagram.com/en_US/embeds.js"></script>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Duncan says "I could probably still play," but "I started not enjoying myself."</p>— Tom Orsborn (@tom_orsborn) <a href="https://twitter.com/tom_orsborn/status/753279338083004417">July 13, 2016</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>