Five-time NBA champion.
Three-time Finals MVP.
Two-time NBA MVP.
A 15-time NBA All-Star. Eight-time NBA All-Defensive First Team member. Rookie of the Year. The only player in NBA history with 1,000 or more wins with one team.
Tim Duncan’s resume can stand next to anyone who has ever played the game; he is the greatest power forward the NBA has ever seen. Yet nobody talks about him, in large part because Duncan doesn’t talk about himself. He does not care about promoting his brand. Duncan just wanted to play the game.
It’s happening again with the Hall of Fame. Duncan is in a class with the legend that is Kobe Bryant and the never-too-shy-to-talk Kevin Garnett — those two will grab the spotlight. Duncan will be fine with that. He’ll just keep doing what he always does.
So on his 44th birthday, it seemed a good time to spotlight one of the all-time greats and remind ourselves that he wasn’t flashy, he wasn’t a self-promoter, but he was as good a forward as this game has ever seen.