5-time NBA champion Tim Duncan retires after 19 seasons

5-time champ Duncan retires after 19 seasons with Spurs

Tim Duncan never wanted the spotlight, only the trophies. He never wanted the endorsements, only the camaraderie. He never wanted the accolades, only the collective achievement.

So when one of the most understated superstars in sports decided to finally call it a career after nearly two decades of excellence, he made the announcement with a 15-foot bank shot and not a boisterous slam dunk.

No big news conference. No victory lap. Not even a canned quote in the press release. Just a simple goodbye on Monday from the quiet anchor at the foundation of the San Antonio Spurs dynasty.

Just as he has for so much of his 19 seasons, the 40-year-old Duncan let others do the talking for him.

“Congrats to Tim Duncan. Probably a top 5 all time player and undoubtedly a top 5 all time teammate,” tweeted Warriors coach Steve Kerr, who played with Duncan in San Antonio. “Wow, what a career.”

Fifteen All-Star appearances, five championships, three NBA Finals MVPs, two NBA MVPs, one coach, one team. Forever.

The Spurs made the playoffs in all 19 of his seasons and won 71 percent of their regular season games with No. 21 in the middle.

“The best (power forward) ever!” Spurs forward LaMarcus Aldridge tweeted. “Thanks for the memories old man. A great player and teammate.”

Few would dare argue.

Duncan was the No. 1 overall pick in 1997 and teamed with coach Gregg Popovich, point guard Tony Parker and shooting guard Manu Ginobili to turn the Spurs from a solid franchise that could never quite get over the hump into the model for American sports.

“The constant staple of their franchise,” Cleveland’s LeBron James said earlier this year.

The unassuming Duncan was the only player to start and win a title in three different decades. Nicknamed “The Big Fundamental” for his clinical approach that favored bank shots over dunks, he was a member of the All-NBA first team 10 times and is one of only three players — joining Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Robert Parrish — to win at least 1,000 games in his career. He is fifth on the NBA’s career list in blocks, sixth in rebounds and 14th in scoring.

He joined Larry Bird and Michael Jordan as the only players to be named college basketball’s player of the year, the NBA rookie of the year, and the MVP of the All-Star game and the NBA Finals.

“Even tho I knew it was coming, I’m still moved by the news,” Ginobili tweeted. “What a HUGE honor to have played with him for 14 seasons! (hash)ThankYouTD.”

NBA Commissioner Adam Silver called Duncan “one of the most dominant players in NBA history” and lauded him for an “understated selflessness (that) made him the ultimate teammate.”

“For two decades Tim represented the Spurs, the city of San Antonio and the league with passion and class,” Silver said. “All of us in the NBA family thank him for his profound impact on the game.”

The reluctant star was often overshadowed in the public eye by more outsized personalities like James and Kobe Bryant, who also retired this year after 20 seasons, all with the Los Angeles Lakers. But he leaves this game as one of the league’s true giants, perhaps the best power forward to ever play and one who left as indelible a mark on his franchise as any player to come before him.

“This will always be Timmy’s franchise. Always,” Parker said during the 2013 NBA Finals. “Should do a statue for him outside the AT&T Center.”

“Congrats Timmy!!! It was my honor to have been the other tower,” David Robinson tweeted. “You amazed us all! What a legacy you leave. Your quiet strength will always be with the Spurs fans.”