duncan228
05-08-2009, 02:46 PM
The Forgotten Badass (http://dimemag.com/2009/05/the-forgotten-badass/)
By Austin Burton
http://i182.photobucket.com/albums/x282/duncan228/temp%20duncan/adidaslead.jpg
photo. adidas
The e-mails started early yesterday morning, and unfortunately I was asleep through most of the exchange. (Occupational hazard of living on the West Coast.) If I’d been awake, I wouldn’t have gotten a headache from Dime’s Top 25 Motherf*ckers of All-Time (http://dimemag.com/2009/05/top-25-motherfckers-of-all-time/).
The original list we debated had more than SIXTY names on it for consideration. Darrell Armstrong was on it. Kenny Smith was there. Clarence Weatherspoon’s name popped up. Yeah, the same ‘Spoon who I saw at ‘08 All-Star in New Orleans looking like he just ate all the cowboys from the Mini Sirloin Burgers commercial. While I threw in my two cents — lobbying for Allen Iverson and Oscar Robertson — there was one name I intentionally didn’t mention, waiting to see if somebody would step up and mention it first, then to see if we would actually make a definitive list of all-time ice-cold ballplayers and yet completely ignore maybe the coldest.
Where the F*CK is Tim Duncan?
The most successful player of the post-Jordan era isn’t a motherf*cker? The best NBA player of the last decade — his only real competitors are Shaq and Kobe — doesn’t crack the list over Terry Cummings?
Tim Duncan is a Top-5 MF’er. Judging by Andrew Katz’s first article on the topic (http://dimemag.com/2009/05/andrew-bynum-needs-to-be-a-motherfucker/), he absolutely has to be:
This mentality has nothing to do with trying to hurt anyone else — it’s simply a matter of exacting your will on the opposition. A motherf*cker’s ultimate goal isn’t just to block a shot into the third row or steal the ball from someone in the backcourt. It’s to live in your man’s head.
That’s not Duncan? If screaming and taunting and generally being out-loud with your passion for the game aren’t requirements for MF status, you can’t deny that Duncan’s entire career has been him exacting his will on opponents, destroying them and living in their head. Doing it in that cold, robotic, quiet storm fashion shouldn’t be a knock on him. After all, Bill Russell is high on the MF list. John Stockton is there. Even David Robinson was on the original list of candidates.
Championship-clinching Game Six of the ‘03 Finals: Duncan put up 21 points, 20 boards, 10 assists and eight blocks, while his counterpart Kenyon Martin goes 3-for-23. That’s a Motherf*cker Game if there ever was one. That same year, in the conference semis-clinching win over the Lakers (ending their hopes of a four-peat), Duncan drops 37 points and 16 boards and had Kobe and Derek Fisher literally crying on the bench at the end. That’s a MF’er Game. And if those are too far back in history for you, let’s go to 2008, Game One of the Spurs/Suns series: 40 points, 15 boards, five dimes, three blocks, and Duncan hits a three to force the second overtime. Or let’s go to the 2009 regular-season finale, when the Spurs needed a win over the Hornets to clinch a division title and homecourt in the first round: Duncan goes for 20 points, 19 boards and six assists, but more importantly, he DOMINATES the entire overtime period. Read about it here (http://dimemag.com/2009/04/dime-smack-nba-playoff-matchups-tim-duncan-chris-paul-jason-kidd-triple-double/). Vintage MF’er performance.
The leader of every sports dynasty and quasi-dynasty — Jordan, Russell, Montana, Mean Joe, even Laettner at Duke — has to be an ultimate badass, an indisputable MF’er. Duncan is the leader of San Antonio’s four-championship run, and while guys like Bruce Bowen and Stephen Jackson were along for the ride as invaluable badasses along the way, Duncan was always the Alpha Motherf*cker.
Ask yourself this: Who has ever punked Tim Duncan? You don’t see him getting Godfather-slapped by David West, or two-pieced by Chris Childs, or busted in the chest by Anthony Peeler. It’s not because Duncan doesn’t make opponents want to go after him — think of how frustrated guys like Shaq, Amar’e and Dampier get when they’re eating TD’s mind-numbing dose of J’s and post moves — it’s just that nobody bucks up on him. Are they scared of Duncan? Not necessarily. But every guy knows the risk factor in challenging the token loudmouth sh*t-talker versus that quiet cat with the icy glare and a calm demeanor amongst chaos. If you’re smart, one of them should put a little more uncertainty in your heart than the other.
Some of the MF’ers discussed over the last few days have that aforementioned Floyd Mayweather way about them, beating you up while telling you all about it. But Tim Duncan has that Bruce Lee swagger. And I wouldn’t wanna test that motherf*cker, either.
By Austin Burton
http://i182.photobucket.com/albums/x282/duncan228/temp%20duncan/adidaslead.jpg
photo. adidas
The e-mails started early yesterday morning, and unfortunately I was asleep through most of the exchange. (Occupational hazard of living on the West Coast.) If I’d been awake, I wouldn’t have gotten a headache from Dime’s Top 25 Motherf*ckers of All-Time (http://dimemag.com/2009/05/top-25-motherfckers-of-all-time/).
The original list we debated had more than SIXTY names on it for consideration. Darrell Armstrong was on it. Kenny Smith was there. Clarence Weatherspoon’s name popped up. Yeah, the same ‘Spoon who I saw at ‘08 All-Star in New Orleans looking like he just ate all the cowboys from the Mini Sirloin Burgers commercial. While I threw in my two cents — lobbying for Allen Iverson and Oscar Robertson — there was one name I intentionally didn’t mention, waiting to see if somebody would step up and mention it first, then to see if we would actually make a definitive list of all-time ice-cold ballplayers and yet completely ignore maybe the coldest.
Where the F*CK is Tim Duncan?
The most successful player of the post-Jordan era isn’t a motherf*cker? The best NBA player of the last decade — his only real competitors are Shaq and Kobe — doesn’t crack the list over Terry Cummings?
Tim Duncan is a Top-5 MF’er. Judging by Andrew Katz’s first article on the topic (http://dimemag.com/2009/05/andrew-bynum-needs-to-be-a-motherfucker/), he absolutely has to be:
This mentality has nothing to do with trying to hurt anyone else — it’s simply a matter of exacting your will on the opposition. A motherf*cker’s ultimate goal isn’t just to block a shot into the third row or steal the ball from someone in the backcourt. It’s to live in your man’s head.
That’s not Duncan? If screaming and taunting and generally being out-loud with your passion for the game aren’t requirements for MF status, you can’t deny that Duncan’s entire career has been him exacting his will on opponents, destroying them and living in their head. Doing it in that cold, robotic, quiet storm fashion shouldn’t be a knock on him. After all, Bill Russell is high on the MF list. John Stockton is there. Even David Robinson was on the original list of candidates.
Championship-clinching Game Six of the ‘03 Finals: Duncan put up 21 points, 20 boards, 10 assists and eight blocks, while his counterpart Kenyon Martin goes 3-for-23. That’s a Motherf*cker Game if there ever was one. That same year, in the conference semis-clinching win over the Lakers (ending their hopes of a four-peat), Duncan drops 37 points and 16 boards and had Kobe and Derek Fisher literally crying on the bench at the end. That’s a MF’er Game. And if those are too far back in history for you, let’s go to 2008, Game One of the Spurs/Suns series: 40 points, 15 boards, five dimes, three blocks, and Duncan hits a three to force the second overtime. Or let’s go to the 2009 regular-season finale, when the Spurs needed a win over the Hornets to clinch a division title and homecourt in the first round: Duncan goes for 20 points, 19 boards and six assists, but more importantly, he DOMINATES the entire overtime period. Read about it here (http://dimemag.com/2009/04/dime-smack-nba-playoff-matchups-tim-duncan-chris-paul-jason-kidd-triple-double/). Vintage MF’er performance.
The leader of every sports dynasty and quasi-dynasty — Jordan, Russell, Montana, Mean Joe, even Laettner at Duke — has to be an ultimate badass, an indisputable MF’er. Duncan is the leader of San Antonio’s four-championship run, and while guys like Bruce Bowen and Stephen Jackson were along for the ride as invaluable badasses along the way, Duncan was always the Alpha Motherf*cker.
Ask yourself this: Who has ever punked Tim Duncan? You don’t see him getting Godfather-slapped by David West, or two-pieced by Chris Childs, or busted in the chest by Anthony Peeler. It’s not because Duncan doesn’t make opponents want to go after him — think of how frustrated guys like Shaq, Amar’e and Dampier get when they’re eating TD’s mind-numbing dose of J’s and post moves — it’s just that nobody bucks up on him. Are they scared of Duncan? Not necessarily. But every guy knows the risk factor in challenging the token loudmouth sh*t-talker versus that quiet cat with the icy glare and a calm demeanor amongst chaos. If you’re smart, one of them should put a little more uncertainty in your heart than the other.
Some of the MF’ers discussed over the last few days have that aforementioned Floyd Mayweather way about them, beating you up while telling you all about it. But Tim Duncan has that Bruce Lee swagger. And I wouldn’t wanna test that motherf*cker, either.