Marc's Quote
"I try not to. I try not to. It'll probably be over before I want it to be."
Spurs forward Tim Duncan, when asked if he's given much thought to how much longer he wants to keep playing.
The response was predictably humble, but don't listen to him. Even though he's playing these days with a brace on his left knee that's too big to miss, Duncan has been the one source of dependability for the Spurs, who haven't been able to follow up their splashy offseason with a convincing start to the new season.
Tuesday's victory over the Lakers -- who were without the injured Pau Gasol and finished the evening without Kobe Bryant, too -- was just the Spurs' fifth in 15 games this season against teams with records of .500 or better. Creaky starts to the season for Manu Ginobili and Tony Parker, meanwhile, have led to the first audible whispers suggesting Duncan won't be forever flanked by his familiar sidekicks.
Ginobili is in a contract year and has made a hesitant return from offseason ankle surgery amid the uncertainty about his future. Parker has complained of foot soreness and fatigue after another long summer with France's national team … and stunningly popped up in trade speculation this week in a reported bid for New Orleans' Chris Paul.
All of the above has apparently made preserving Duncan's health even more of a priority to Gregg Popovich, judging by Pop's decision to force him to skip the second half of a back-to-back in Oklahoma City after the L.A. game. Duncan's coach also revealed that night that he plans to make him sit out portions of back-to-backs more than the Spurs "ever have before" to see if that strategy "pays dividends come playoff time."
After his 25 points against the Lakers, Duncan enters the weekend just 69 points shy of 20,000. He'll soon become the 35th player in league history to get there after Dallas' Dirk Nowitzki did so Wednesday night.
"It means I've been playing a long time," Duncan told San Antonio reporters when asked about the milestone. "It means I'm old. It means I'm closer to the end than to the beginning. It means a lot of things that are negative more than positive."
We repeat: Don't listen to him. Duncan is the least of the Spurs' concerns.
As usual.
http://espn.go.com/nba/dailydime/_/p...ady-bumpy-ride
It's the nature of the business. Ginobili's deal is up this year. Parker's the next.
Someone could throw a big enough deal at Manu in the summer of LeBron to lure him away. Retaining Parker with Pop & TD nearing their own exits will be quite a challenge.
Then again, one could see the Spurs and Ginobili agreeing to a short term deal. Splitter in next season should be a shot in the arm. Not to mention Jefferson in his second season with the team (and in a contract year). Hill continues to impress. Oh, and there's that guy Blair...
TP's the biggest question mark of them all.
I have always loved Duncan's sense of humour. The guy much like David before him has never bought into the superstar hype, his low key subtle humour is a breath of fresh air in a sport dominated by egomaniacs and fools. OK rich egomaniacs and fools.
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