Photo Evidence of Tim Duncan Cowering Away from a Blake Griffin Dunk

Call Tim Duncan a coward or call him enlightened.

Either way, the following photos put on clear display Duncan's complete "I'm-getting-the-heck-out-of-here" mentality as the winged Blake Griffin takes off for flight in the third quarter of last night's Los Angeles Clippers' win against the San Antonio Spurs.

Now, to be fair, Duncan may be trying to avoid picking up a worthless foul within the charge circle or he simply knows he has no shot against Griffin, the most powerful dunker in the NBA.

But it's also an obvious demonstration of the soft nature of today's NBA, especially amongst veteran superstars in the regular season.Years ago, a player wouldn't put on such a show on another superstar's home court.

Here is the evidence:

Notice Duncan's movement of:

1. "Let me see what's going on here."

2. "Oh, I see what's going on here."

3. "Oh, I don't like what's going on here."

4. "I am getting the heck out of here."

5. "I wonder what happened back there."

The league doesn't encourage defensive plays at the basket, and Duncan is just one case of how true challenges are rare occurrences. There's more effort at the lower levels.

The reality is shown in the following chart:

Should Duncan have challenged on this play? Let @jimmypspencer know on Twitter.