No. 8: Tim Duncan, PF, San Antonio Spurs
Chief Accolades – 5x NBA Champion, 3x NBA Finals MVP, 2x NBA MVP, 15x NBA All-Star, 13x All-NBA Players, 15x All-NBA Defensive Team
Stats – 19 Seasons, 19 PPG, 10.8 RPG, 3 APG, 2.2 BPG, 96 DRTG, 110 ORTG, 206.4 Career Win Shares, 89.3 VORP
Mr. Fundamental. The greatest player to never be recognized as that great.
Tim Duncan is so quiet and really never speaks out that it’s so easy to forget how great he was. The 5x NBA champion revolutionized the Spurs franchise. On top of that, Duncan is arguably the greatest defender ever.
In a time where rim protection in the modern NBA is almost gone, you realize how special someone like Duncan was. His stats don’t really tell his whole story as he really played much longer than he should of, but he just loved the game. He wasn’t flashy and he didn’t have any insane tricks; he just was very good in every aspect of true basketball.
Next: The Magic Man