Tim Duncan's Legacy Grows With or Without 6th Ring
We get it: Tim Duncan is a legend.
More legendary by the game, it seems. And still more legendary whether or not his Spurs win another title in the short term. And that's what some might not get: Duncan is still padding his resume with heroic feats, this time like some kind of ageless Gandalf of hoops wizardry.
| Category | Rank/Count/Seasons |
| NBA Champion | '99, '03, '05, '07 and '14 |
| NBA MVP | '02 and '03 |
| NBA Finals MVP | '99, '03 and '05 |
| NBA All-Star | 15 selections |
| All-NBA First Team | 10 selections |
| All-Defensive First Team | 8 selections |
| Rookie of the Year | '98 |
| All-Time Points | #16 (25,849) |
| All-Time Rebounds | #8 (14,567) |
| All-Time Blocks | #6 (2,922) |
| All-Time Player Efficiency Rating | #13 (24.4) |
It's worth taking a moment to appreciate what he's doing now—not in the previous 17 campaigns, nor during his two MVP seasons or five title marches. The 38-year-old remains great, and his longevity has become a calling card in its own right.
Whereas Kobe Bryant has succumbed to three straight season-ending injuries, Duncan has been just about as relevant as ever on a per-minute basis. He's a two-way force with a game that's still somehow overshadowed by everything else San Antonio has going for it.
Tangibly and intangibly, the Big—and Increasingly Old—Fundamental has earned every bit of that 15th All-Star selection, and not in that "lifetime achievement" sense, either.
The Production
Duncan leads the Spurs with a 21.93 player efficiency rating that ranks 15th-overall among qualified players and sixth among power forwards, according to Hollinger Players Stats. The 4-men ahead of him are Anthony Davis, LaMarcus Aldridge, Pau Gasol, Blake Griffin and Derrick Favors.
Efficiency hasn't been the only thing to like. The 18th-year veteran has been an absolute rock for head coach Gregg Popovich's rotation, logging 68 games that far outpace Tony Parker's 59 or Kawhi Leonard's 55. He's been a steadying force on both ends of the floor for a roster that's battled its share of injuries and inconsistency.
That was never more apparent than when this team began its recovery from an 8-10 December and injuries to Parker and Leonard.
"He's having a good year," Popovich told reporters in January. "We've been a little up-and-down, but he's been really steady. He's carried us to this point with his consistency, which is what's really impressive."
Indeed, no one has been more responsible for avoiding the brink of an unthinkable departure from the playoff picture. Duncan has saved these Spurs in more ways than one.
His 13.9 points, three assists and 0.82 steals per contest all rank third on the team, and he leads San Antonio with 9.2 rebounds and 1.91 blocks per game. The eight-time All-Defensive First Team selection has again made a strong case for Defensive Player of the Year, patrolling the paint with calculated effectiveness.
And he's perhaps salvaging San Antonio's season in the process. Though the offense has been markedly better in March, it's the other end of the floor that kept this club relevant in the first place.
As Sports Illustrated's Rob Mahoney put it in February:
"It's the defense—and Duncan's, in particular—that has given San Antonio the luxury of working out its problems without sliding out of the West's top eight. The buoyancy that Duncan has given the Spurs has dramatically changed their season, and with it the complexion of the entire conference.
"
The overall numbers may not be gaudy by Duncan's former MVP standards, but they're consistent with what he's done in limited minutes over the last five seasons.
| Season | MIN | PTS | FG% | REB | AST | STL | BLK |
| '10-11 | 28.4 | 13.4 | .500 | 8.9 | 2.7 | 0.7 | 1.9 |
| '11-12 | 28.2 | 15.4 | .492 | 9.0 | 2.3 | 0.7 | 1.5 |
| '12-13 | 30.1 | 17.8 | .502 | 9.9 | 2.7 | 0.7 | 2.7 |
| '13-14 | 29.2 | 15.1 | .490 | 9.7 | 3.0 | 0.6 | 1.9 |
| '14-15 | 29.5 | 14.0 | .499 | 9.3 | 3.0 | 0.8 | 1.9 |
If one doesn't get too caught up in the uneven scoring, the nightly stat lines speak for themselves—particularly when San Antonio needs him most. Duncan has logged at least 34 minutes in 19 appearances this season and scored at least 20 points another nine times.
When the Spurs need a two-way star besides Leonard, they still have one more often than not.
... And The Presence
Numbers alone have never adequately accounted for Duncan's real impact, a fact which has only become truer with age—especially during a season that was on the precipice of disaster not long ago.
An unusually poor 4-5 record on February's Rodeo Road Trip slowed the club's recovery from that disastrous December, raising the distinct possibility that this just might not be the Spurs' season. Duncan was unsurprisingly a source of collective stability at the time.
"Just kind of keeping things together," he told reporters in early March. "Don't panic. I think in some respects, when you lose games, three or four in a row like we have, people start to panic and want to change something or change everything.
"We're going to have to stay steady with it and understand it's a work in progress, and we're not in as bad a position as it may seem at the time. If we put some wins together, we start feeling good about ourselves, we'll be in the right place during the playoffs."
In retrospect, Duncan appears to have been correct.
The bleeding has officially stopped, if only temporarily, and this month has become a different, more familiar story. San Antonio is 11-3 in March, including Sunday night's 103-89 victory against the Memphis Grizzlies.
Things will grow more difficult in a shortened April with two meetings against the Houston Rockets and another with the league-leading Golden State Warriors. But already, Duncan has seemingly done his part.
In classic Spurs fashion, this team hasn't let a little adversity knock it entirely off course. It probably won't let April get in the way, either.
That doesn't necessarily mean another title is in the offing, and that's just fine. Duncan has ensured his team is at least in position to contend, which is an accomplishment in this Western Conference.
It's just the latest one for an individual legacy that isn't finished quite yet.
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