duncan228
01-20-2010, 12:36 AM
Spurs' Duncan nears 20,000-point club (http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/spurs/Spurs_Duncan_nears_20000-point_club.html)
By Jeff McDonald
If Spurs forward Tim Duncan hits his season average of 20 points per game tonight, he will also hit a notable NBA milestone.
Duncan is within 15 points of becoming the 35th player in league history to join the 20,000-point club and the 10th to do it with one franchise.
In typical Duncan fashion, he seems less than impressed by the magnitude of his own impending accomplishment. What does 20,000 points mean to him?
“It means I've been playing a long time. It means I'm old. It means I'm closer to the end than to the beginning,” Duncan said with a chuckle. “It means a lot of things that are negative more than positive.”
In actuality, Duncan's arrival in the 20,000-point club would solidify a résumé that already makes him a first-ballot Hall of Famer. He will become one of seven players to score 20,000 points, grab 10,000 rebounds and block 2,000 shots, having already cracked the appropriate thresholds in the latter two categories.
Others on that list include Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Shaquille O'Neal, Hakeem Olajuwon, Patrick Ewing, Robert Parish and David Robinson, Duncan's old teammate with the Spurs.
For now, Duncan, 33, is too wrapped up in his 13th NBA season to contemplate his place in hoops history.
“It will mean something after I'm done,” Duncan said. “Right now, you're in the midst of things. It's hard to see it as an accomplishment or anything else.”
Jefferson update: Richard Jefferson had a string of 232 games started snapped when he missed Monday's win at New Orleans with back spasms. Coach Gregg Popovich doesn't think it will be too long before Jefferson is cleared to start a new streak.
“I think he'll be fine,” Popovich said. “I don't think it's any big deal.”
Jefferson is listed as day-to-day.
Posey punished: Upon league review, New Orleans' James Posey has been retroactively awarded a flagrant foul 1 for undercutting Duncan during Monday's game, an NBA source said. Officials initially called no foul on the play, which came on a Duncan layup with nine minutes to go.
Awesome, baby: Dick Vitale is coming to San Antonio, babeee!
Vitale and play-by-plan man Dan Shulman will work tonight's game for ESPN as part of the network's second annual announcer swap — much to the excitement of one of San Antonio's most prominent Dickie V fans.
“Oh, cool,” Duncan said when apprised of the plan. “It will be great to see him.”
ESPN's normal NBA crew of Mike Breen, Jeff Van Gundy and Mark Jackson will call the game between Duncan's alma mater, Wake Forest, and North Carolina that kicks off tonight's hoops doubleheader.
By Jeff McDonald
If Spurs forward Tim Duncan hits his season average of 20 points per game tonight, he will also hit a notable NBA milestone.
Duncan is within 15 points of becoming the 35th player in league history to join the 20,000-point club and the 10th to do it with one franchise.
In typical Duncan fashion, he seems less than impressed by the magnitude of his own impending accomplishment. What does 20,000 points mean to him?
“It means I've been playing a long time. It means I'm old. It means I'm closer to the end than to the beginning,” Duncan said with a chuckle. “It means a lot of things that are negative more than positive.”
In actuality, Duncan's arrival in the 20,000-point club would solidify a résumé that already makes him a first-ballot Hall of Famer. He will become one of seven players to score 20,000 points, grab 10,000 rebounds and block 2,000 shots, having already cracked the appropriate thresholds in the latter two categories.
Others on that list include Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Shaquille O'Neal, Hakeem Olajuwon, Patrick Ewing, Robert Parish and David Robinson, Duncan's old teammate with the Spurs.
For now, Duncan, 33, is too wrapped up in his 13th NBA season to contemplate his place in hoops history.
“It will mean something after I'm done,” Duncan said. “Right now, you're in the midst of things. It's hard to see it as an accomplishment or anything else.”
Jefferson update: Richard Jefferson had a string of 232 games started snapped when he missed Monday's win at New Orleans with back spasms. Coach Gregg Popovich doesn't think it will be too long before Jefferson is cleared to start a new streak.
“I think he'll be fine,” Popovich said. “I don't think it's any big deal.”
Jefferson is listed as day-to-day.
Posey punished: Upon league review, New Orleans' James Posey has been retroactively awarded a flagrant foul 1 for undercutting Duncan during Monday's game, an NBA source said. Officials initially called no foul on the play, which came on a Duncan layup with nine minutes to go.
Awesome, baby: Dick Vitale is coming to San Antonio, babeee!
Vitale and play-by-plan man Dan Shulman will work tonight's game for ESPN as part of the network's second annual announcer swap — much to the excitement of one of San Antonio's most prominent Dickie V fans.
“Oh, cool,” Duncan said when apprised of the plan. “It will be great to see him.”
ESPN's normal NBA crew of Mike Breen, Jeff Van Gundy and Mark Jackson will call the game between Duncan's alma mater, Wake Forest, and North Carolina that kicks off tonight's hoops doubleheader.