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Good Article
He gets my vote.
Nice article.
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/200...homsen.duncan/
My Sportsman: Tim Duncan
Team before all is the essence of Spurs star
By Ian Thomsen
Sports Illustrated will announce its choice for Sportsman of the Year on Dec. 3. Here's one of the nominations for that honor by an SI writer.
Boring years ago, indispensable today. So varies the perspective on Tim Duncan, even as he remains unchanged, and thankfully so.
A short decade ago, as Michael Jordan was retiring from the Chicago Bulls and his abandoned league clutched and grabbed for a new iden y, there was tremendous pressure on Duncan to be something he was not. He wasn't a loudmouth or a braggart, he didn't draw attention to himself and he put the interests of his team before all else.
Now imagine if he had betrayed his principles and become what so many wanted of him. Where would the NBA be today?
For it's clear now that Duncan, more than any other NBA star, has served as the bridge through those lost years when Vince Carter was propped up as Jordan's heir, when the league tried to sell immature stars at the expense of the game's fundamental values, when Shaq & Kobe remained the NBA's big story after their divorce. Now that the NBA has emerged from that ugly era of isolation play and middle-linebacker defense, who sets the lasting trends for pro basketball?
The answer is Duncan. He has won four les since Jordan stepped aside, and at 31, Duncan may yet equal Jordan's six championships. More important is the means of Duncan's success: He brought stability and order to a league that seemed on the verge of ignoring its fundamental roots. Any team hoping to win the championship knows it must beat Duncan at his own game, which means sharing the ball, defending and finishing when his team needs the points.
This past season Duncan recovered from plantar fasciatis to lead the Spurs to their third le in five years. Already recognized as the top power forward in NBA history, Duncan morphed into the dominant center in the league last season. Then he agreed to a contract extension worth $11 million less than he could have had, enabling the Spurs to afford good players around him in future. As the NBA seeks to profit from China and beyond, remember that it was Duncan who empowered immigrants Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili to become All-Stars in his company.
More than any other star of the last decade, Duncan maintained his respect for the NBA's ideals even when the league occasionally trampled its own virtues. For upholding those values, he'll be hailed generations from now as a founding father of the new global era. In the meantime, for whatever it's worth, he is my Sportsman of the Year.
Good Article
those lost years when Vince Carter was propped up as Jordan's heir, when the league tried to sell immature stars at the expense of the game's fundamental values, when Shaq & Kobe remained the NBA's big story after their divorce. Now that the NBA has emerged from that ugly era of isolation play
WTF?? The NBA hasn't emerged from !! Its still doing the same ing it did at the beginning of the decade, trying to manufacture false s om in hopes of recapturing what they had with Jordan. Duncan has succeded IN SPITE of the ing NBA hype machine! so now because Duncan succeeds through team play, and fundamentals, the NBA suddenly takes credit? Give me a ing break! Duncan is unique, no other player like him right now, and he's the only one deserving of the credit.
Federer has to win it if SI wants any sort of legitimacy worldwide (outside US).
Winning 3 out of 4 majors (and final match of 4th) two years in a row.
Don Harris (WOAI) gets the word out.
http://www.woai.com/content/sports/s...c-bc00d029787d
Tim Duncan Gets Strong Endorsement for Sportsman of the Year
Reported by: Don Harris
Email: [email protected]
SI Writer a Big Tim Duncan Fan
My Sportsman: Tim Duncan
Tim Duncan has been Sports Illustrated's Sportsman of the Year before, and if one SI writer has his way, he will get it again.
Tim has been on the receiving end of some very high praise from Ian Thomsen, one of a few S.I. writers who are making their vote public.
“Already recognized as the top power forward in NBA history, Duncan morphed into the dominant center in the league last season. Then he agreed to a contract extension worth $11 million less than he could have had, enabling the Spurs to afford good players around him in future,” Thomsen wrote. “More than any other star of the last decade, Duncan maintained his respect for the NBA's ideals even when the league occasionally trampled its own virtues. For upholding those values, he'll be hailed generations from now as a founding father of the new global era. In the meantime, for whatever it's worth, he is my Sportsman of the Year.”
Meanwhile, the Spurs practiced Monday morning before taking off for Atlanta. They've got another back to back this week at the Hawks today (tuesday), and then home against Orlando on Wednesday night. But unlike Coach Pop, Matt Bonner say's don't feel bad for the Spurs. Feel bad for the guy in a suit in New York.
“I feel bad for the guy that has to schedule all the games. Think about it – that many teams in that many cities trying to make everything work and be as convenient as possible? It’s a tough job, so we have some teams that are going to have to make some sacrifices,” Matt Bonner told SpursZONE.com.
The Spurs and Hawks tip off at about 6pm at Philips Arena in Atlanta. You can watch the game on Fox Sports Network or listen on WOAI radio.
Would be pretty cool if he won again.
Yep...I want Duncan to win it, but Federer is a freaking machine...best tennis player EVAR...
Love Duncan...but I agree, if Federer deserves the nod over Duncan this year.
This is SPORTSMAN of the year, not athlete of the year.
What has Federer done besides winning tennis tournaments to deserve it?
Duncan leaving 11 mil on the table so HIS TEAM can continue to put other players around him, to continue to compete for championships alone should be enough to give him this award in this day of "give me the money" at ude among players.
Duncan represents the best there is at being a true Sportsman.
He always has, he always will.
He's a winner, but it's his at ude, his sportsmanship, that puts him over the top.
First word of the article was "boring".
I stopped reading there....what did I miss?
The description of a player who's not on your team ... i.e. A WINNER.
Ah...good point...Duncan for sure, then...
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