An emotional Popovich bids farewell to Duncan, with thanks

Duncan ended his career Monday after 19 years with the San Antonio Spurs, three months after Bryant played the last game of his 20 seasons with the Los Angeles Lakers.

Tim Duncan spent almost two decades as the quiet storm in the middle of the San Antonio Spurs franchise, putting the team on his broad shoulders and carrying it to heights unseen in modern American sports.

Drafted number one overall in 1997 by the San Antonio Spurs, Duncan’s first video game appearance was in NBA Live ’98 for the PlayStation 1.

He was among the best defensive players in the league according to advanced statistics in 2015-16, as he used his canniness and experience to the fullest hilt. Duncan made an immediate impact in his first season, averaging 21.2 points and 11.9 rebounds per game, as the Spurs finished the season with a 56-26 record, and advancing to the Western Conference Semifinals, where they fell to the Utah Jazz in five games. Had the Spurs been able to convince Durant to sign with them, there’s a huge chance that Duncan would have stayed for at least one more season as they would have been in a good position to beat the Warriors and return to the Finals.

He is one of four players to rank in the top 15 in all three categories, joining Abdul-Jabbar, Hakeem Olajuwon and Shaquille O’Neal.

Duncan and coach Gregg Popovich have the most postseason victories in National Basketball Association history (157) as a player-coach duo. “These two were what I call “unfadeable” big men”. “I wanted to see if I could win a championship in San Antonio”.

“I thought I was going to be a Spur”, Kidd told ESPN’s Ohm Youngmisuk at Summer League in Las Vegas, where he now coaches the Milwaukee Bucks. While other players flew to the basket and beat their chest after a rim-jarring dunk, Duncan consistently wore down opponents with the subtleties of his game.

Kidd was eventually dealt to the Mavericks in 2008, winning the championship in 2011. “He is very sound fundamentally, of course, and always gives credit to others”.

“Playing against him was like playing against Hakeem Olajuwon”, O’Neal said on Monday. “Not every talented player can do that”.

Duncan, who was born and raised in the Virgin Islands, was a relative latecomer to the sport of basketball.

“When you look at his game, I’ve often described it as substance over style”, Odom said.

“He was unstoppable”, Kidd said of Duncan during that 2003 NBA Finals win over the Nets.