The Most Consistent Thing in My Life Over the Last 21 years has Been Tim Duncan
By: Steven Ngati
Does anyone remember Randolph Childress? For those who don’t know, he was the point guard for Wake Forest in the mid 1990’s and performed a legendary crossover on Jeff McInnis in the 1995 ACC title game. (If you’ve never seen the play, just YouTube Randolph Childress) I remember watching the replay on Sportscenter and immediately going to the basketball court to work on the same crossover, step back, look at the guy on the ground while talking shit and nailing a 3 pointer just like Childress did. As a young impressionable sports fan I wanted to see more of this guy so I tuned in to see Wake Forest in the NCAA tournament. I watched the opening game to see Childress and I was introduced to a lanky 6’10 sophomore named Tim Duncan. I quickly became a fan and watched Duncan develop into one of the greatest players in ACC history.
For the last 21 years I’ve followed this man’s career as he became my favorite professional athlete of all time. Hannibal Buress once made a joke about how he viewed his life timeline based on what was going in Kobe’s career. That is the same parallel I have with my personal life and Timmy’s career. When the Spurs won their 1sttitle with Duncan being named Finals MVP, I had just graduated from 5th grade embarking on the awkward middle school world. When Duncan won his 1st League MVP I was heading into my freshman year of high school. When Duncan won his 3rd title I had just gotten my driver’s license the day before. Shoot, the one year I was in college, the Spurs beat a young LeBron James in the finals for Duncan’s 4th title. After I moved to Texas and started a new career, the Spurs won another title in another decade giving Timmy one for the thumb. As a Christian man, I recognize Jesus Christ as my lord and savior and nothing can compare to that in terms of consistency in my life. Outside of the love of my family and friends there has been a lot of change in my life. Despite that change, I could always rely on Tim Duncan to be consistently great. To me that was always his greatest gift. Night in, night out Tim would get 20-10, play all world defense and lead by example.
From my life as a 7 year old through me getting married last December, Tim has played by an immeasurable standard. This is why it hurts to write this because I can’t remember what it was like not rooting for my favorite athlete. I’ve always had Tim during my other sports heroes’ peaks and valleys. Michael, Troy and Emmitt were still Cowboys when Tim came into my life. Ricky Williams, Vince Young, Randy Moss, Steve Francis and Tracy McGrady all came flourished and left at different times, but I always still had Tim. It hurts to write this because after Tim came back from what seemed like a minor knee injury earlier this season, he never looked quite like himself again. That’s what age does, it becomes almost impossible to recover from nic-nac injuries and it gets harder and harder to perform at your peak level every night. Tim’s other knee has been shot for the last 5-6 years. Despite that he learned how to run differently and changed his body and game to accommodate for the wear and tear. The dedication to keep himself at a high level while having the humility to take a backseat to Tony, Manu, Kawhi and LaMarcus over the years has been a lesson of hard work and true leadership to me. It’s killed me inside to watch Tim struggle to move up and down the court in these playoffs because nothing is sadder than watching someone who was once so great be a shell of themselves. I can see the frustration on his face when he knows what he wants to do or what needs to be done, but he just can’t physically do it anymore. His basketball IQ and wingspan are the only thing keeping him on the court, he still makes the correct rotation on defense every time, he can still block shots without leaving his feet he can still pass and set screens as good as any big in today’s game. Unfortunately, his other knee is finally failing him. Watching him fall down losing his leverage boxing out to a younger player with fresh legs is tough. Seeing him not being able to step into his signature bank shot or take a hard dribble to the paint and finish with his right hook, something he has done over a thousand times is almost too much to bear for Spurs fans. Despite this, he still helped his team win a franchise record 67 games this season. At age 40, we’ve never seen a guy this productive playing for one franchise, year after year with his team in contention for a championship. As much as it hurts me to see his career come to an end like this, I’m thankful for the 21 years of consistent greatness that Tim has given me and other fans across the globe.
Tim Duncan was never as marketable as Jordan, as flashy as Kobe, as loud as KG or have a big personality like Barkley or Shaq. Many NBA fans and many of my friends still classify him as boring and uncool. I had to realize that Tim was never there for them, he was there for the intellectual basketball nerd that liked to see the game played the right way. He was there for people to see the ideal teammate, a guy that always gave a shit and genuinely cared about the well-being of his teammates on and off the floor. He was there for the people who appreciate an athlete that never put himself before a franchise or city. He was there for me. I know when it’s over the world of sports media will sing his praises and reflect on his Hall of Fame career. I don’t need to list his accomplishments as I’m sure it will be discussed and debated over on every network once he decides to make it official. This post is just my way of making peace with the inevitable end and having such appreciation for what Tim has stood for in my life as a sports fan.
Whether the Spurs win or lose Game 6 in OKC, I’m thankful to see you play another game and I won’t be surprised if you turn back the clock one more time. If tonight is really your last game Tim, it was such a pleasure to see you play, to see you win, to see you lose and to see you lead like no other has done before and most likely never will after you. You’re the greatest player of my generation and I owe my love of the game to you.
