Tim Duncan Looks Like a Shell of His Former Self

For years, the San Antonio Spurs went the way Tim Duncan went. A true superstar that was among the game's best, Duncan had the ability to carry some less talented Spurs teams on his back for long stretches.

That's not the case anymore, though, because Duncan isn't the Duncan of old any longer. In fact, he's a shell of his once former self.

It's tough to watch Duncan age, but it's tougher to watch what he's become on the floor. He's now only a sightly above-average big man on what could be a very good Spurs team. He can't be counted on for the typical Duncan 20-and-10 stat line any longer. In fact, he gets more and more like the 10-and-eight player we've seen in the Spurs' first two games.

The drop in production over the course of the past few seasons has to be worrisome for a team looking to take one last run at a championship. It's not critical to the Spurs' success that Duncan produces, since the offense no longer runs through him—which is a strange site on its own—but a productive Duncan can help this team along the way.

A bigger question is this: how will the 35-year-old Duncan's body hold up with the NBA's shortened schedule? We will have to see how he holds up on the second day of back-to-backs and in the middle of a six-games-in-eight-days stretch. That ultimately will be the telling test of whether or not Duncan can hold up or not.

Can the Spurs win with this Duncan?

Absolutely, and they are off to a good start to the season. He's still as fundamentally sound as any player in the NBA.

They can win, but are they realistic championship contenders? Only time will tell, but their chances aren't great if Duncan is only a shell of his former self.