Duncan, Tim

Tim Duncan, in full Timothy Theodore Duncan, (born April 25, 1976, St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands), American collegiate and professional basketball player who led the San Antonio Spurs of the National Basketball Association (NBA) to five championships (1999, 2003, 2005, 2007, and 2014).

In his youth, Duncan excelled in freestyle swimming and had hopes of participating in the Olympics after seeing his older sister, Tricia, compete as a member of the Virgin Islands swim team in 1988. The following year, however, Hurricane Hugo destroyed most of the island’s swimming pools, and Duncan was left unable to train. He began playing basketball and proved a natural at the sport, but he attracted little interest from college scouts. In 1993 Duncan entered Wake Forest University, where he gained national attention with his all-around play and poise. He was predicted to be the number one pick in the NBA draft following his junior year, but Duncan elected to stay in school. In his final season he received the John R. Wooden Award as the outstanding collegiate player in the United States.

After graduating with honours in 1997, Duncan was the Spurs’ first overall pick. He and teammate David Robinson formed the dominating tandem known as the “Twin Towers,” and in 1998 Duncan was named Rookie of the Year. The following season he averaged 24 points and 17 rebounds in the NBA finals against the New York Knicks to give the Spurs the franchise’s first NBA title and earn himself the finals Most Valuable Player (MVP) award. In 2000 he was named co-MVP of the All-Star Game, but he later suffered a knee injury that ended his season and forced him to withdraw from the U.S. men’s Olympic basketball team.

After Duncan recovered from his injury, his performance in the 2001–02 season—in which he became the 14th NBA player to have registered more than 2,000 points and 1,000 rebounds in a single season—secured him the league’s MVP award. In 2003 he led the Spurs to victory over the New Jersey Nets, scoring a triple double (21 points, 20 rebounds, and 10 assists) in the decisive sixth game to claim the NBA title and his second finals MVP award. He was also named MVP for his regular-season play. In 2004 Duncan finally realized his dream of competing in the Olympics, helping the U.S. men’s basketball team win a bronze medal at the Athens Games.

Following the retirement of Robinson in 2003, Duncan was named captain of the Spurs. In the 2004–05 season San Antonio defeated the defending champions, the Detroit Pistons, to win their third championship. That year Duncan became the fourth player to win three finals MVP awards. In 2007 the Spurs swept the Cleveland Cavaliers to capture another title.

Duncan’s strong play continued despite his (by NBA standards) advancing age. In 2012–13 he was named, at age 37, first-team All-NBA for the 10th time in his career. In that postseason he led the Spurs to the franchise’s fifth appearance in the NBA finals, where the team lost a seven-game series to the Miami Heat. Duncan again guided the Spurs to a berth in the finals the following season, where the 38-year-old centre led his team in minutes played en route to a five-game-series victory in a rematch with the Heat. Duncan earned his 15th career All-Star Game appearance in 2014–15 and led the team to 55 regular-season wins, but the Spurs were eliminated in the first round of the playoffs while playing in a historically good Western Conference field.

Duncan turned 40 years old during the 2015–16 NBA season, and it appeared that his age was finally catching up to him: he averaged career lows in minutes (25.2), points (8.6), and rebounds (7.3) per game during the season. Despite his limitations, the Spurs set a franchise record by winning 67 games over that campaign but were upset in the second round of the playoffs, and Duncan retired during the following off-season. At the time of his retirement he ranked among the top 15 NBA players of all time in career points (26,496), rebounds (15,091), and blocks (3,020). He rejoined the Spurs as an assistant coach for the 2019–20 NBA season. Duncan was elected into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2020.