San Antonio Spurs forward Tim Duncan exited his NBA career with simplicity and no pageantry. Duncan announced July 11 that he will retire after 19 seasons with the organization. Seems like this year is the superstar veterans' retirement year. First Kobe Bryant and now Tim Duncan. Who's next?
Duncan who has been with the Spurs since the drafting, won five championships and posted a 1,072-438 regular season record, giving them a .710 winning percentage -- the best year stretch in NBA history and was the best in all of NBA, NFL and MLB over the last 19 years.
Originally selected by the Spurs as the first overall draft pick in the 1997 NBA Draft, Duncan helped San Antonio reach the playoffs in each of his 19 seasons and became the only player in the league history to start and win a title in three different decades.
Spurs won at least 50 games the last 17 seasons, which is considered to be the longest streak in the league history. They also posted at least a .600 winning percentage in each of Duncan's 19 seasons, an all-time record for most consecutive seasons with a .600 win percentage in the four major U.S. sports.
The 40-year-old forward leads the NBA in Defensive RPM (5.41) and became just the third player in the league history to reach 1,000 career wins, as well as the only player to reach 1,000 wins with one team.
He also helped the Spurs to a franchise-best 67-15 record and also became one of the two players in the NBA history to record at least 26,000 points, 15,000 rebounds and 3,000 blocks in his career.
Share It To Your Friends!
Loading...