ESPN'S LZ GRANDERSON: Appreciate Tim Duncan while you can

[deibero]

Dont know if it was already posted, but great read from ESPN.

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/comme...ory?id=6449896

Appreciate Tim Duncan while you can
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By LZ Granderson
ESPN.com
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I used to believe coach Gregg Popovich was just monitoring Tim Duncan's minutes to keep him fresh for the playoffs. For a while I believed Duncan did less so that Manu Ginobili and Tony Parker could shine more. Everyone could see Shaquille O'Neal falling to pieces, but Duncan's decline was always masked by his steady presence and the wins. I used to be blind, but thanks to the Memphis Grizzlies, now I see.


Ronald Martinez/Getty Images
Tim Duncan's at his most demonstrative after calls with which he disagrees.
Tim Duncan is old…er.

I'm hedging just a bit out of respect, which Duncan has never had a problem getting.

It's the love that's been on back order.

He is arguably the greatest power forward to ever play, and yet when he was in the NBA Finals, we didn't bother to watch (two of the all-time lows for Finals TV ratings featured him).

He's been an All-Star starter but never the top vote getter.

In 2003, Duncan was not only an All-Star, but repeated as league MVP, and was MVP of the Finals while leading the San Antonio Spurs to their second NBA championship (he was also instrumental in the franchise's first in 1999) and yet his jersey sales didn't crack the top 10. Although he was by far the best player in the league that season, fans bought more gear bearing the names of Jalen Rose and Lamar Odom, two players who have never even been named All-Stars.

See what I mean? Respect. But no love.

Regardless of what happens in this series with Memphis, it is clear the window's closing for these Spurs. If my hunch is right, when Duncan's contract expires in summer 2012, he will not re-sign. He will retire.

And if this is indeed the case, I hope the fans -- so obsessed with crossover dribbles and dunks -- give an overdue standing ovation to a player whose signature moves are winning and avoiding the curtain call.

Why would he retire?

In short, dude is tired.

[+] Enlarge
Nathaniel S. Butler/NBAE/Getty Images
Tim Duncan, left, and David Robinson won two les together.
Four years at Wake Forest. Thirteen seasons in the league. The equivalent of two full regular seasons in the playoffs (175 games and counting). Plus, he just turned 35, so recovery takes a little bit longer.

Duncan never had great lift, but now his feet have taken root in the ground; rebounds out of his area are now rebounds out of his reach.

And after two MVPs and four championships, there really isn't a reason to come back even slower and achier just to get bullied by a Zach Randolph, posterized by a Blake Griffin or -- if the Lakers find a way to snatch Dwight Howard from Orlando the way they got Shaq in 1996 -- abused by D12.

No, Duncan deserves better than that.

But that's not the only reason why he'll leave. Unlike, say, a hobbling Seattle SuperSonics version of Patrick Ewing or the injury-prone Lakers version of Karl Malone, Duncan doesn't need to stick around and chase a ring to validate his career. And unlike Shaq or Michael Jordan, he doesn't need the attention.

In fact, part of the reason why we don't love Duncan is because he doesn't go out of his way to get us to notice him. Critics say he has no personality but, the thing is, he does. He just doesn't bother to show it to us. He graciously accepts the fame that comes with being a 13-time All-Star, he just doesn't flaunt it. As a result, we've become indifferent to a man who really should have been the face of the league: never in trouble, philanthropist and humanitarian off the court, the game's biggest winner on it. But because we've become a culture conditioned to reality TV and manufactured celebrity -- paying attention only to big personalities or vacuous people who are famous for making a spectacle of themselves -- we don't fully appreciate the beauty of someone who focuses his public persona on being an elite athlete, a person like Duncan.

I'm not an irrational fanboy who thinks he's perfect, or anything like that. He does complain to officials a lot, eyes wide in disbelief, more demonstrative than just about any time off the court. And that whole thing with never playing international ball again because of FIBA rules after the 2004 Olympics rubbed me the wrong way. But I do recognize that Duncan is quiet and talented in an age in which we prefer our gods to be loud and mediocre. Which only partially explains why in 2006, Stephon Marbury, who up to that point had never won a playoff series, had the league's fifth-most popular jersey and Duncan, who had just led the Spurs to a third championship the year before, was out of the top 10, again.


Jed Jacobsohn/Getty Images
Tim Duncan had gradually spent less time on the court. When his contract expires, will he step away from the NBA?
After one final season, Duncan will retire because there's nothing more for him to do. He's earned close to $200 million in NBA salary alone, so money won't be an issue. And unlike David Robinson, who stuck around until he was 37 because he loved the game and felt Duncan could do the heavy lifting en route to one more ring, Duncan isn't seeing much relief on the bench. Barring a trade, he's looking at Dajuan Blair as his workhorse successor. And while Blair makes for a good story, Duncan knows the Spurs are going to need more than a good story to win another ring.

If he misses the guys, he can come back to visit. There's no need to take elbows for 82 games just to say "hi."

Of course, the locals have always known what they have. Last week it was reported the Spurs led the league in regional TV ratings this year. You can bet that when the Big Fundamental walks away, the royal wedding will look like a Texas high school prom compared to what San Antonio will do to honor him.

But what about the rest of us? Next season may very well be Duncan's last. Will we come out of our misguided "SportsCenter"-highlight fog long enough to properly shower him with the love that rightfully belonged to him for a decade, or will we be too busy talking about another Griffin dunk? No knock on the rook, it's just that when Duncan came into the league in the 1997-98 season, he averaged 20 points and 9 rebounds -- in the playoffs.

The next year, the Spurs won the whole thing.

Huh, no wonder Duncan is looking so old. Whether we love him or not, he's owned the league for a long time.

[twincam]

dang....very well written....
I support what was stated. It's true...most of the world only focuses on people that bring attention to themselves. It's all about quan y vs quality this day in age. I can understand the dunks here and there that make ESPN's top ten...but remember...dunks are still worth 2 pts. Dunks do not win championships. Team play win championships. It will be a very sad day to watch the NBA's best power forward walk away once, "the wheels fall off".
Although I am disappointed with how early this season has ended for the Spurs, the door is yet still opened for proving the world wrong.

[NickiRasgo]

Yeah it was already posted by duncan228 first then me. This article is really great.

[Sean Cagney]

But that's not the only reason why he'll leave. Unlike, say, a hobbling Seattle SuperSonics version of Patrick Ewing or the injury-prone Lakers version of Karl Malone, Duncan doesn't need to stick around and chase a ring to validate his career. And unlike Shaq or Michael Jordan, he doesn't need the attention.



love that there mannnnnnnnnnnnn.

[Fireball]

all facets of game and life taken into account - Tim is the best ... period

[Rummpd]

I am sorry but I am not giving Duncan any extra props right now - he should have demanded the ball more and/or told Pop and the others get out the way I am covering Randolph (or at least provided better help defense) and also demanded more that Pop put some size next to him all season. Duncan needs to step up more even in his declining years when healthy as he is probably the only one Pop might listen to out of respect.

[NickiRasgo]

I am sorry but I am not giving Duncan any extra props right now - he should have demanded the ball more and/or told Pop and the others get out the way I am covering Randolph (or at least provided better help defense) and also demanded more that Pop put some size next to him all season. Duncan needs to step up more even in his declining years when healthy as he is probably the only one Pop might listen to out of respect.

"Dude is tired."

[silverblackfan]

all facets of game and life taken into account - Tim is the best ... period

As far as the game goes, I agree. Tim is the best. When you add life into the equation, I still have to defer to Mr Robinson as the best.

[rwb]

But the casual NBA "fan" that Stern's ratings are interested in don't want players like Tim, they want loudmouthed, chest-thumping, street-balling playahs who put on an exciting show by turning what used to be a beautiful, skillfull game into a fast paced 48-minute reality show played in expensive tennis shoes. It's all part of lumping together the most greedy, attention-seeking superstars in the largest cities for a re-vamping of the league which will no longer require players like Duncan or David Robinson or even Kevin Durant who is content to stay in OKC. For the life of me I'll never understand the appeal of hotshots. bullies and egomaniacal millionaires over the players that parents actually can point their kids to as positive role models. I have such high respect for Tim and am honored that he was on our team.

[DMC]

It's a good article but nothing we didn't already know.

[DMC]

I am sorry but I am not giving Duncan any extra props right now - he should have demanded the ball more and/or told Pop and the others get out the way I am covering Randolph (or at least provided better help defense) and also demanded more that Pop put some size next to him all season. Duncan needs to step up more even in his declining years when healthy as he is probably the only one Pop might listen to out of respect.

That kinda defeats the concept of declining years.. doesn't it? If a player can just will himself to step up his game, he's not declining, he's reclining. Duncan isn't reclining.

[Agloco]

That kinda defeats the concept of declining years.. doesn't it? If a player can just will himself to step up his game, he's not declining, he's reclining. Duncan isn't reclining.

This.

It's obvious that Timmy's running on vapors. No amount of minute-watching is going to change the fact that this ceiling is lower now.

[tmtcsc]

I am sorry but I am not giving Duncan any extra props right now - he should have demanded the ball more and/or told Pop and the others get out the way I am covering Randolph (or at least provided better help defense) and also demanded more that Pop put some size next to him all season. Duncan needs to step up more even in his declining years when healthy as he is probably the only one Pop might listen to out of respect.

I'm not sure you get it, and I feel bad for you. HE CAN'T do it anymore. He's always been a smart player and Pop knew what worked. The truth is, TD was no longer capable of doing what he once could. He can't move, can't jump, can't demand a double team, can't do a lot of things. He did offer a great example of leadership but that's it. His place on the All Star team was a sign of respect, not merit.

Zach Randolph...let's say it again, ZACH RANDOLPH owned him. Do you really think Randolph would have been so effective against Duncan, had Duncan been in his prime ? No way in . Just my opinion but Gasol AND Randolph would have been on the bench in foul trouble.

[lefty]

Good read







you Pop

[wildbill2u]

I doubt he will do it because of his innate modesty, but Duncan should let everyone know in advance of his retirement season, so fans around the league can show their appreciation for his wonderful career when he comes to their town for the last time.

Other players have taken a victory lap and no one has deserved it more than Tim.

[spurs10]

I doubt he will do it because of his innate modesty, but Duncan should let everyone know in advance of his retirement season, so fans around the league can show their appreciation for his wonderful career when he comes to their town for the last time.

Other players have taken a victory lap and no one has deserved it more than Tim.

That's for sure!

[Mr Fundamental]

Great read..

I will miss Duncan..