Big day in the NBA today. Every day has been a NBA day lately. The association has been dominating the sports headlines since mid spring, and today, one of it's modern day legends hung up his spurs, pun intended. Tim Duncan retired after 19 seasons, 5 championships, 2 MVPs, 3 finals MVP, 15 all-star appearances, one all-star MVP, 10 all-NBA first team selections, and a rookie of the year award. Thats a career. If we all had a resume like that in our respective professions, we can all retire happy, fulfilled, probably rich, and more importantly with the ultimate currency - respect! Tim Duncan is in fact so universally respected and exalted, fans outside San Antonio never really connected with him the way they connect and derive joy by loving or hating their other superstars. Folks just looked up to him like he was some kind of a basketball unicorn that can't be hated and consequently, can't be loved either. His fundamentally sound big man's game wasn't as sexy to watch compared to the athletic wings. But he was a truly dominant big man at both ends of the floor. He played power forward in a center's body and soul. He played offense like a power forward and defense like a center and was great at both.
As we stand here in the modern NBA, Timmy might be the last great low-post scorer. There are your occasional low-post artists in Zach Randolph, Al Jefferson, and LaMarcus Aldridge still at work, but the "big fundamental" was the last dominant big man around whom a team's offense was built. Trends tend to be cyclical and may be low-post scoring will be back in fashion again someday. But until then, Duncan's videos is all we got, especially if we insist on watching low-post moves in HD. He was kind of a bridge between the old-school NBA and the the guard centric, 3-point loving, motion oriented new world. As he was aging, the NBA was also changing and coach Pop deftly transformed even the Spurs offense to leverage the younger scoring talents in Parker and Ginobli. This was one of Pop's biggest achievement and a huge reason for his sustained success. Speaking of Pop, aside from his on-field heroics, Timmy's biggest strength was his coachability, class, and unassuming demeanor. I can't think of a superstar in any sport with less of a visible ego, fanfare, and attitude. Supposedly, Pop was ruthless with him too and he let him be. Unthinkable in the NBA with any other star, let alone a MVP caliber superstar.
The only time Timmy said anything even remotely interesting or controversial was just before the 2014 finals rematch against the LeBrons when he actually said that the Spurs will get it done this time. That kind of bravado was uncharacteristic of Timmy and he did go out and back it up in the finals by beating that Heat team. It just showed how hurt he and the Spurs were with the 2013 finals loss. They were the better team and they blew it. So they had to come back with everything they got and put the Heat away. Ironically, that is the most memorable Timmy moment I could remember. For a star of his magnitude, he did not have too many memorable moments or even games that are etched in our memory and NBA's history. Of course as a Suns fan, I have to pretend that he didn't hit that 3 in OT in the 2008 playoffs that I remember like it happened yesterday. But even thats neither here nor there since it was only an early round playoff game. He sure was a big thorn in the Suns' side in all those memorable western conference playoff series between the 2 teams but never had a lot of signature moments. I love his nickname the "big fundamental", but even that is not quite as catchy as the "black mamba" or "the king." Thats Timmy in a nutshell. He came, he conquered with no drama, and now he is gone. We will miss him as he walks away the same year as Kobe putting an end to an important NBA era in our lives.
In other news, the Durant tremor is still being felt. He was introduced last week and it's still the big news being discussed and analyzed across the league. Some folks are actually not as sympathetic as me towards OKC. They think OKC stole the team from Seattle and hence have nothing to complain with this loss of Durant. In any case, it's time to move on for the Thunder and it's going to be interesting to see what they do with Westbrook now. They sure can't afford to lose him as well without getting anything in return. He either assures them he will stay or he will be traded. Good story for the NBA fans either way. In MLB, the all-star break is here. I am not a big fan of the home run derby but it was fascinating to watch Giancarlo Cruz Michael Stanton tonight. That guy won the derby with ease and it's just amazing to watch him hit. He makes it look so easy and effortless. It didn't even look like he was breaking a sweat while crushing the ball 480 yards. John Carlos is the man!
1 comment:
If I didn't already have a favorite NBA team I would have loved to be a Spurs fan this past decade and a half. Timmy D has been the main reason for that (Pop and RC deserve a lot of credit too) and he, better than anyone else, has proven that sometimes nice guys can finish first! He also disproved the pervasive notion that winners need to have a win-at-all-costs approach to their sport. Tim never compromised his values in order to achieve greatness (individually or collectively) and that makes him (and the Spurs) a great role model for everyone to follow.
My most memorable Timmy moment was his near quadruple-double in 2003 (title-clinching Game 6 of the NBA Finals) in which he got 21 points, 20 rebounds, 10 assists and 8 blocks! I can also never forget his signature bank-shot which I feel should be on the same level as Kareem's sky-hook and Jordan's fadeaway (in its accuracy and unstoppability).
I don't usually watch the all-star festivities in baseball but Giancarlo Stanton is a freaking robot (and fun to watch). I was worried when he got hit in the face (and nearly lost an eye) a couple of years ago but it looks like he's as good as he's ever been (if not better). I would have liked to see Bumgarner in the HR derby (then I probably would have watched) but it was probably best for him and his team that he wasn't.
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