POSTED: Mar 23, 2016 10:33 AM ET
After 18 seasons of scoring, rebounding and
defense, big shots, big games, two MVP awards, three Finals MVPs, and
15 All-Star Game appearances, it might have been reasonable to ask what
was left for Tim Duncan to give in season No. 19.
Himself, it seems.
What we are seeing as they continue driving toward their best record ever is not just a little something we can write off to the quirky ol' Spurs, but is possibly unique in all of sports.
This is more than a decorated veteran sitting on the bench for almost all of the biggest game of the season on Saturday night when the Spurs took down the Warriors. It is the greatest player in franchise history making sure that his legacy does not live on only in gaudy statistics or vintage video highlights, but in cracking the door for the next generation while also keeping it open for his own.
The minutes for the Spurs' aging Big Three -- Manu Ginobili and Tony Parker are both logging career-lows this season -- are all micro-managed scrupulously by coach Gregg Popovich. But nobody has given up more of his role in the offense than the Big Fundamental.
Of course, it has never been about the spotlight for Duncan, who has spent nearly two decades running in the other direction. But what he's doing this season is unprecedented and has not been more evident than when Popovich took a peek at the extra small starting lineup being run out by the Warriors and chose to replace Duncan with Boris Diaw.
It was just the third time in Duncan's 1,383 regular season games he was not in the starting lineup. The first two were in unusual circumstances. Once, when Duncan was coming off injury, and the other time Popovich wanted to experiment with minutes.
That it would come in the NBA's most anticipated regular season game of
the year and most telling is what came after the tip. Duncan would play
just eight minutes all night, not a single one in the second half.
The issue wasn't whether Duncan would go along with the move. He has already taken pay cuts to allow his franchise to build a better roster, and he long ago gave up his place in the offense for others.
His actions upon the game's first time out confirmed what everyone thought would happen. Rather than trudge back to the bench, Duncan pulled both Kawhi Leonard and LaMarcus Aldridge aside as they left the huddle to return to the action, giving each further advice.
"To take a backseat and be our biggest cheerleader on that bench, encouraging guys and not having his head down, he's the ultimate professional," Aldridge said, then adding a chuckle. "He's a coach, too.
"He's just a great person. He didn't pout, he was very positive. I don't know if many guys in that position would have handled it as well as he did."
It's what Duncan has been doing for more than half a decade now. He hasn't led the Spurs in scoring since the 2009-10 season, though while approaching his 40th birthday on April 25, continues to anchor the NBA's No. 1-rated defense.
Of course, the most delicious part of the scenario is that it's a
recipe Duncan helped whip up. He was a key part of the Spurs' entourage
that actively recruited the free agent Aldridge to come to San Antonio.
Having already played for less than his market value in the previous
three years so that the Spurs would have room to maneuver under the
salary cap, he took another pay cut to just over $5 million for this
season so that the team could offer Aldridge the maximum four-year, $84
million contract to essentially take over his hold job as a big dog in
the lineup.
While Aldridge had to spend the first half of the season getting accustomed to his new team, it was Duncan who had a more difficult time finding where and how to fit. He's played as many as 35 minutes in a game and as few as the eight on Saturday. For a player that averaged 25.5 points in winning the MVP award in 2002, his single game-high this season that he's hit just once is 18.
"My (playing) time varies, what I'm asked to do varies," Duncan told San Antonio reporters. "Even at this point, I'm still trying to get comfortable with that."
Is it possible that after all he's contributed to the entire organization, all he's done to raise the profile of the city of San Antonio, in a strange, only-Tim-kind-of-way, this is Duncan's best contribution ever to the Spurs?
Plenty of great athletes in plenty of cities have delivered championships during their careers. But Duncan, more than anyone, first enabled Popovich's sharing culture to take root with his acceptance of it, and now is nurturing the next generation of Spurs championship potential. Remember the Celtics in the years after Larry Bird, Lakers after Magic Johnson, Pistons after Isiah Thomas, Rockets after Hakeem Olajuwon, Bulls after Michael Jordan. Now think about the Spurs with Aldridge and Leonard.
Duncan is no longer just teaching the next generation of Spurs how to keep driving. He's handing over the keys.
What we are seeing as they continue driving toward their best record ever is not just a little something we can write off to the quirky ol' Spurs, but is possibly unique in all of sports.
This is more than a decorated veteran sitting on the bench for almost all of the biggest game of the season on Saturday night when the Spurs took down the Warriors. It is the greatest player in franchise history making sure that his legacy does not live on only in gaudy statistics or vintage video highlights, but in cracking the door for the next generation while also keeping it open for his own.
The minutes for the Spurs' aging Big Three -- Manu Ginobili and Tony Parker are both logging career-lows this season -- are all micro-managed scrupulously by coach Gregg Popovich. But nobody has given up more of his role in the offense than the Big Fundamental.
Of course, it has never been about the spotlight for Duncan, who has spent nearly two decades running in the other direction. But what he's doing this season is unprecedented and has not been more evident than when Popovich took a peek at the extra small starting lineup being run out by the Warriors and chose to replace Duncan with Boris Diaw.
It was just the third time in Duncan's 1,383 regular season games he was not in the starting lineup. The first two were in unusual circumstances. Once, when Duncan was coming off injury, and the other time Popovich wanted to experiment with minutes.
Despite Gregg Popovich cutting his minutes, Tim Duncan has responded well.
The issue wasn't whether Duncan would go along with the move. He has already taken pay cuts to allow his franchise to build a better roster, and he long ago gave up his place in the offense for others.
His actions upon the game's first time out confirmed what everyone thought would happen. Rather than trudge back to the bench, Duncan pulled both Kawhi Leonard and LaMarcus Aldridge aside as they left the huddle to return to the action, giving each further advice.
"To take a backseat and be our biggest cheerleader on that bench, encouraging guys and not having his head down, he's the ultimate professional," Aldridge said, then adding a chuckle. "He's a coach, too.
"He's just a great person. He didn't pout, he was very positive. I don't know if many guys in that position would have handled it as well as he did."
It's what Duncan has been doing for more than half a decade now. He hasn't led the Spurs in scoring since the 2009-10 season, though while approaching his 40th birthday on April 25, continues to anchor the NBA's No. 1-rated defense.
To
take a backseat and be our biggest cheerleader on that bench,
encouraging guys and not having his head down, he's the ultimate
professional.
– LaMarcus Aldridge on Spurs teammate Tim Duncan
While Aldridge had to spend the first half of the season getting accustomed to his new team, it was Duncan who had a more difficult time finding where and how to fit. He's played as many as 35 minutes in a game and as few as the eight on Saturday. For a player that averaged 25.5 points in winning the MVP award in 2002, his single game-high this season that he's hit just once is 18.
"My (playing) time varies, what I'm asked to do varies," Duncan told San Antonio reporters. "Even at this point, I'm still trying to get comfortable with that."
Is it possible that after all he's contributed to the entire organization, all he's done to raise the profile of the city of San Antonio, in a strange, only-Tim-kind-of-way, this is Duncan's best contribution ever to the Spurs?
Plenty of great athletes in plenty of cities have delivered championships during their careers. But Duncan, more than anyone, first enabled Popovich's sharing culture to take root with his acceptance of it, and now is nurturing the next generation of Spurs championship potential. Remember the Celtics in the years after Larry Bird, Lakers after Magic Johnson, Pistons after Isiah Thomas, Rockets after Hakeem Olajuwon, Bulls after Michael Jordan. Now think about the Spurs with Aldridge and Leonard.
Duncan is no longer just teaching the next generation of Spurs how to keep driving. He's handing over the keys.
No comments:
Post a Comment