Image courtesy of David J. Phillip, AP
Prologue
For many of the basketball fans at my age, the 2000s decade was the golden era. It was the era most of us who were born in the 90s grew and love. When MJ ruled the world, we were just too young to see it on NBC. As big as a Michael Jordan fan I am to most people, I only saw him live on television wearing a Washington Wizards Jersey. I witnessed it on live television how Shaq and Kobe feuded and in the process became a public and media spectacle. Although at the time I did not fully understand what was going on nor bothered to care why, except of the possibility that one of the most dominant duos in NBA history (or little did I know that time) would, and eventually did end breaking up. I also witnessed the last Finals series of David Robinson in 2003 - the announcers and commentators celebrated his great career and thanked him for all his contributions to San Antonio, giving me an impression how players would look like when "old". I also witnessed first hand the rise of the Detroit Pistons led by coach Larry Brown and Chauncey Billups and featured 4 players who weren't considered greats by star power nor sheer talent but really defined what it meant to be the *whole is greater than the sum of its parts. RipHamilton (my favorite at the time), Ben Wallace, Rasheed Wallace and Tayshaun Prince completed that great team who would probably be mistakenly considered as a superteam in today's NBA (laughs). Though they never won a title again as I would have hoped for, there were guys who defined the NBA during that era.
Who can forget that when kids at school try to shoot a crumpled paper or an empty water bottle into the trashbin, people would scream "Kobe" - an obvious evidence of Kobe's immense popularity at the time. Admittedly though, I'm not a Kobe fan - at the time I started to watch 90s basketball bit by bit when my father introduced me to MJ and Scottie which was spurred by the fact I witnessed Jordan's Final Allstar game where people from all over the world sent him messages of gratitude as seen in the bottom of our tv screens while the game was being played then moments later hit a game winner over Shawn Marion. Epic! There was this epic standing ovation also in Jordan's final game in Chicago which was long! Also, how can we forget that Vince Carter gave up his all-star starting spot to the one who was and is still widely considered the GOAT?
But there was one thing I was sleeping on, talking to my bestfriend who was a very big Kobe fan and I remember along these lines - "I wish the Spurs won't be in the Finals this year, they're boring!" "Yeah, I keep seeing their faces on TV every year and I'm quite fed up." But my worst fears became a reality when "my" Detroit Pistons went to face off against the Spurs in 2005 and went to 7 games! It was such a thriller - such defined my childhood experience as an NBA fan. In the end though I want to raise the real topic in question - "Why are people sleeping on the San Antonio Spurs?"
Consistency
San Antonio was and still is a small market team and thus they don't have the fanbase of the Knicks, the Lakers, the Celtics - especially here in the Philippines. I had that kind of impression that San Antonio were the favorite team of those who were silent, smart and deep individuals whom I personally knew - ironically it reflects the overall reputation and principle of the team. You see them in the playoffs every year, not missing or taking a break yet people are not buzzing about it (maybe except Kobe or Shaq haters). They were consistent. They weren't entertaining to watch maybe except for Manu and Bowen whose skills not only as players but as floppers and dirty players garnered them attention to casual fans yet their best and most important player Tim Duncan rarely gets too much attention, really. The latter was a true model of efficiency and consistency. He doesn't shoot much fade away jumpers, nor he has that speed and if anything, never plays with style nor finesse but he gets it done and that should be the most important thing, right? He has beaten Shaq and Kobe during the aftermath of their 3 peat, which is an astonishing feat if you look it from a wider perspective, yet no one bats an eye nor gives a crap about it. He has beaten Kevin Garnett in 2001, Dirk Nowitzki in 2003, Pau Gasol in 2004, Carmelo, Nash and Amar'e then finally conquered Billups and the defending champs the Pistons in 2005. Despite all of that I barely see his fanbase grew on my hometown nor on my school despite NBA being a fad and a must-watch during our time especially during the Summer. He was never a fan favorite, even going to college! One thing you can't deny though, Duncan faced the best competition his era had to offer on a yearly basis. When you are in the Western Conference during the 2000s, making the playoffs already solidifies how tough and good you really are at the time. You can't expect to make consecutive finals appearances with that level of competition. and while the Spurs weren't short of talent nor grit - individually they were hardly superstars. When Robinson left it was just Duncan, nobody else! The team and the players were, as people said correctly - products of the system of Gregg Popovich. Let's talk more about Timmy.
Fundamentals
There was nothing aesthetically amazing on anything that Tim Duncan does, well it's because he makes everything look effortless and easy! He rarely elevates to the sky just go average 5 blocks a game during the 2003 FInals against the Nets nor get his 17 rebounds a game during that stretch in one of the most dominant 2-way performances in a Finals series ever! He mastered the defensive positioning, protecting the most valuable real estate in the court - space right within the rim. He rarely shows defenders that his presence as if he were invisible or non existent in some way.
When Duncan doesn't block your shot, he makes you take difficult ones or even alter your trajectory. He was sneaky, partly because he keeps his hands down while moving towards the proper position and as much as possible minimize unnecessary jumping which enabled him to anticipate and act accordingly. He also had a very underrated body control which allowed him to stay grounded, to be able recover defensively even on good shot fakes that normally would have made big men jump on their heels just to get a highlight block. His mastery of the fundamentals of basketball never afforded him any wasted movement nor making things look more difficult than it had to be - probably why sometimes us fans loved players like MJ, Westbrook, LeBron, Vince Carter, T-Mac, Kobe and Shaq and all those freaky athletic and dominant athletes. Tim Duncan, at first glance looks like a blue collar worker on an NBA hardwood yet I say it again - gets it done than the most eye catching NBA players. He was less dependent on athleticism, was more about timing and not being caught off guard mentally. To be honest, it does look pretty when you think about how effortless he makes all these defensive stops. If you are a person who loves results - he is your guy! His court awareness as a defender was one of the greatest ever, despite not winning Defensive Player of the Year. Check this incredible sequence out!
Duncan always anticipate the play and goes to the weak side to avoid any easy buckets for the opposing teams, you don't see him get confused nor rattled. A deep dive to his offense shows his post moves were textbook and well executed albeit not as graceful as an Hakeem Olajuwon but he was stronger in my opinion.
Above we see him overpower Nowitzki to force him out of position.
While Hakeem would kill you by fakes, footwork and countermoves; Duncan always started with his deft footwork, eventually overpowering you for a slight separation to get his shots. In that respect though he isn't Shaq nor Dwight when it comes to backing down opposing big men. Duncan was more methodical on his approach coupled the fact that he had a very soft touch around the post. He can hit mid range shots and wasn't a bad free throw shooter too (at least in comparison to other big men). He also had a Kobe or Melo like jab step that confused defenders too!
And of course who can forget his signature bank shot!
A close look at his career numbers doesn't look eye popping but film study shots how the so-called "Boring MVP" made the Spurs better outside of how the box score actually showed him to be. From his rookie season all the way to the 2007-2008 season, the Spurs were top 1-3 in the entire NBA in defensive rating as a team despite only having David Robinson til 2003. From 2008 to 2012 the Spurs regressed then went back to prime form in the entering the 2012-2013 season due to the emergence of Kawhi Leonard and the addition of Danny Green. Duncan never played with stars, whom prior to being his teammate carried their own respective teams. They were drafted and homegrown! Kawhi might have done it later after he forced his way out of San Antonio but that's also partly because he learned from one of the greatest player and the greatest coach ever, despite having a slow start into his career. Duncan himself was lucky he was taken by David Robinson under his wing. We can see the culture of growth, unselfishness and efficiency being passed on from one generation to the next.
More Context
Sure, we could make an argument that Duncan wasn't individually better than David Robinson in his prime, nor was he a good as a scorer as Karl Malone. As a power forward or center, there were probably players more skilled in Duncan but again his results speak for themselves. The Spurs only won their first title when Duncan came into the fold, and he won Finals MVP playing alongside David Robinson! Think about this for a moment. Duncan isn't as fast as Robinson nor was he as a agile nor strong. The latter was probably the more accomplished individual player than Duncan but when talking about team impact, it's not even close! There was one key element that Robinson learned into the tail-end of his career which somehow passed itself to Duncan: sacrifice. Robinson took a step back on Duncan's arrival, thus they became a better team overall. Maybe it's the emergence of Popovich, or the arrival of Parker, Ginobili? In the end it's sacrifice. Why did I say so? The lack of sacrifice cost Bryant and O'Neal more titles and their overall dominance whereas in Duncan's last 2 titles, he willingly took a step back and lost the Finals MVPs both to Tony Parker and Kawhi Leonard. Duncan was almost 6-0 like Michael Jordan (screw you Ray Allen!), he had a record of 5-1 as a champion. You can compare Tim Duncan's sacrifice to Michael Jordan - who gave up being Chicago's primary ball handling duties to Pippen for the Chicago Bulls to thrive. Notice that during both 3-peats, Jordan's overall numbers went down to the point that on the surface he looked like a slightly worse all-around player than Scottie Pippen. Historical revisionists take that as a minus factor for Duncan, MJ and even in many cases Bill Russell especially in the current era of statistics and analytics but in reality, it made Duncan, MJ and let's insert Bill Russell as the ultimate winners! You never see those great stat stuffers becoming consistent winners! Wilt, Oscar, Westbrook, Harden - all those guys who can fill up the stat sheet and were transcendent talents didn't actually translate to more titles.
Competition and longevity
The 2000s were the golden era of power forwards - Kevin Garnett, Dirk Nowitzki, Pau Gasol, Rasheed Wallace, Amar'e Stoudamire, Chris Webber, Chris Bosh, Elton Brand, Jermaine O'Neal, Kevin Love, Serge Ibaka and David West; all of them went head to head with Tim Duncan at one point and in most cases, Duncan won against them though we can't say the latter really beat them head to head everytime especially at the end of his prime, yet he won the war. Duncan had more Finals appearances than any of them. Chris Bosh was a close second in terms of Finals appereances yet he wasn't as impactful on the court as the Big Fundamental was. As a center, Duncan faced Shaquille O'Neal, Dwight Howard, Yao Ming, Ben Wallace and Andrew Bynum in their prime. That's some stiff competition right there! Duncan's western conference is one of the toughest in NBA history which made it very difficult to make consecutive Finals appearances that only the Lakers during the Bryant-Shaq era were able to accomplish and most recently, Golden State. From 1999-2000 to 2015-2016 season during Duncan's playing days, the Spurs won 70% of their games 12 times! That was despite the fact he shared the league with the likes of Kobe whose name you see on GOAT debates. Ironically, when it comes to that same debate you don't hear Tim Duncan's name out there, it doesn't resonate to casual and even some hardcore fans. Also when it comes to longevity - Duncan was still competing for a title until 2015. For comparison, Kobe's title window ended in 2011 and was much more short-lived which started on Gasol's arrival. Duncan was still around and actually won against the best player of the next decade - LeBron James twice, in a near sweep of 8-1 despite James having the better overall talent and the Spurs core by average the much older team in 2014. Tim Duncan and the Spurs also beaten the OKC Thunder prior to the Heat despite the emergence of young talents such as Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook nearing their primes. Unfortunately, Duncan was out of the league by the time the Golden State Warriors started their reign of dominance during the second half of the 2010s decade.
Stats and Analytics
Again, stats and analytics doesn't give enough justice to gauge Tim Duncan's overall impact - 19.0 ppg 10.8 rpg 3.0 apg 0.7 spg 2.2 bpg 2.4 tov on 50% from the field and 69% from the free throw line aren't a statline of the ages. His playoff numbers were a bit better - 20.6 ppg 11.4 rpg 3.0 apg 0.7 spg 2.3 bpg 2.8 tov on 50% from the field and 68% from the line. His career 24.20 PER in the regular season is ranked at 14th all time but on the playoffs Duncan rose to 9th all time at 24.28.
Defensive win shares is a different story though as Tim Duncan is 2nd All-time behind Bill Russell and above other greats such as Kareem, Hakeem and Wilt Chamberlain in the regular season and 3rd All-time in playoff defensive win shares behind Bill Russell and LeBron James. In defensive box plus/minus, Duncan is 11th All-time in the regular season and 19th all time in the playoffs.
Let's not forget that Duncan still has one of the greatest carry jobs for a superstar in Finals history - 24.2 ppg 17.0 rpg 5.3 apg 1.0 spg 5.3 bpg on 49% from the field and 68% from the line in 2003 against the New Jersey Nets. Many sports analyst ranked his performance alongside Wade's 2006 Finals, Shaq's 2000 Finals, Jordan's 1993 Finals and Hakeem's 1995 Finals as one of the greatest Finals carry jobs in history that resulted in a win.
Accolades
- NBA Titles - 5
- NBA Finals MVP - 3
- NBA Regular Season MVP - 2
With a total of 10 trophies under Duncan's belt. Let's see how his closest competitors in the 2000s stacked up against him.
Kobe Bryant
- NBA Titles - 5
- NBA Finals MVP - 2
- NBA Regular Season MVP - 1
Total trophies: 8
Shaquille O'Neal
- NBA Titles - 4
- NBA Finals MVP - 3
- NBA Regular Season MVP - 1
Total trophies: 8
Conclusion
This article was not meant to sway those who firmly believed that Kobe or Shaq were the best players of the 2000s but I have laid out the cases for Tim Duncan, who not only had a strong argument as the clear best player of the 2000s but also as the greatest player of all time. While MJ and Kobe were the ultimate competitors of their time and probably all time, Duncan was the ultimate team player of all time and also had the argument of being the greatest leader of all time. The Spurs sustained much longer years of success than the 90's Bulls, the 2000's Lakers and the 2010's Golden State Warriors. Their consistency of making the post season and winning games on a high level were not seen since the days of Bill Russell's Celtics. Tim Duncan was the ultimate example of sacrificing personal glory and numbers to achieve one of the winningest careers in NBA history at 71.91%. That's more than Michael Jordan, LeBron James, Kobe Bryant, Bill Russell and Kareem Abdul Jabbar. So I think casual fans should put more respect on Tim Duncan's name or at least mention him once in a while during GOAT debates. I rest my case.