Tim Duncan has officially retired after 19 NBA seasons

By Alexandria Cannon

After the 2016 NBA season, this upcoming season will not be the same. Noticeable names will be gone, as well as high profile players who will be on different teams. One noticeable face and name that will be a spectator is power forward Tim Duncan of the San Antonio Spurs.

Since drafting Duncan in 1997, the Spurs posted a 1,072-438 regular-season record, the best 19-year stretch in NBA history, and tops in the four major US sports over the past 19 years.

Duncan’s playing style left a mark for incoming power forwards. Though Duncan’s style was not the prettiest, he was the most fundamentally sound basketball player at the power forward position. With the game of basketball, many players forget the importance of fundamentals. Duncan’s playing style showed how important it is.

Duncan finishes his career with averages of 19.0 points, 10.8 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 2.2 blocks per game. He ranks 14th all-time in points (26,496), sixth in rebounds (15,091) and fifth in blocks (3,020). Duncan made the NBA All‐Defensive First Team eight times. He is only the third player in NBA history to win 1,000 career regular-season games. Abdul-Jabbar and Robert Parish are the only players with more career victories.

He left his mark in the NBA, but most importantly with the San Antonio Spurs. Unlike many players in the NBA today he stuck with one team throughout his NBA career. Playing for the Spurs, he won five championships and was a Finals MVP three times.

Alexandria Cannon can be reached at alexcannon40@gmail.com