There was no farewell tour, countless speaking engagements or a city by city egotistical centre court goodbye followed by a presentation of a useless gift. There was no special press conference or a show to announce he was taking his talents to the retirement home. Instead the announcement was made with no ego, no pretentiousness, no “look at me” I accomplished so much in my career bull crap. When Tim Duncan retired he did it in the classiest way imaginable. A basic press release was sent out to inform people that after 19 years playing for the San Antonio Spurs he wouldn’t be back. Then there was a simple personal message signed by Tim to thank the fans, his coaches as well as admitting that looking back there was no way he could have scripted this journey for himself.
Perhaps the most amazing turn of events was when when Gregg Popovich the Head Coach of the Spurs, who is very well known for avoiding interactions with the press, held a press conference to bid Duncan farewell. The most amazing part of all was during the process of Pop talking about Tim Duncan he ended up getting emotional and chocked back tears a couple of times. The last thing anyone would describe Pop as is emotional so to see him in that rare form was a testament to their bond with one another. Duncan and Pop have won 1001 games together which is the most of any player/coach combination. They have more wins together than some NBA teams have.
One of the moments that was incredibly touching was when Coach Pop talked about how people play that hypothetical game about who they would choose to have dinner with out of all sorts of celebrities or world leaders. Pop said his choice would be to have dinner with Tim because “He’s the most real, consistent, true person I’ve ever met.” He said he is incredibly funny as well as a deep thinker.
It was also really touching when Pop talked about promising Tim’s dad on his death bed that he would ensure Tim was the same person at the beginning of his NBA journey as at the end of his career. Everyone would agree that definitely was something Pop was very serious about and was successful in achieving.
Tim Duncan was very well known for being an amazing teammate. He cared a lot about his teammates often taking less money in order to have a championship level team. One of the most special bonds he had was with David Robinson when he first came into the league. Those two guys seemed from the outside to have an incredible relationship with one another. Steve Kerr who now coaches with the Golden State Warriors had the opportunity to play with Tim Duncan and said he was a phenomenal teammate and fun to play with.
A player like Tim Duncan is irreplaceable. There are a few things I will never forget about watching him over the years. The first one is with regards to how fundamentally sound he was. He played basketball in such a unique way in that he had impeccable footwork, used the backboard to bank shots in from the blocks and always had a strong defensive presence. He had an amazing hook shot and he consistently played a style of basketball that lulled many into thinking he would play forever. The last thing that I never ever got tired of seeing was when a referee missed or made a call that he didn’t agree with. This facial expression would come to his face. Tim Duncan always shows what he thinks by the looks on his face.
The way he ended his career was similar to how he played it. He let his game speak for itself. It is fitting that although Duncan was originally from the Virgin Islands at least some of the Texas cowboy culture over the years must have impacted him. Duncan chose the perfect Cowboy ending for his amazing basketball career in that he just simply did what all the best cowboys do he rode off into the sunset. So long Timmy you will be missed greatly!
No comments:
Post a Comment