Hall of Fame former San Antonio Spurs power forward/center Tim Duncan is widely considered to be among the top eight-to-10 players in the history of the game.
Across a 19-year pro career, the 6-foot-11 Wake Forest product was a 15-time All-NBA honoree, a 15-time All-Star, a 15-time All-Defensive Teamer, a five-time champion (and three-time Finals MVP) and a two-time MVP.
Nicknamed "The Big Fundamental" for his unflashy-but-devastatingly effective two-way game, Duncan instantly impacted winning when he arrived in the pros, creating a brutal frontcourt tandem with aging fellow Hall of Fame and MVP Spurs big man David Robinson. San Antonio won its first championship with Duncan during his second season.
Across 1,392 career regular season contests, Duncan averaged 19.0 points on 50.6 percent shooting from the floor and 69.6 percent shooting from the foul line, 10.8 rebounds, 3.0 assists, 2.2 blocks and 0.7 steals a night. He improved those numbers to 20.6 points, 11.4 rebounds, 3.0 dimes, 2.3 rejections and 0.7 swipes in 251 career playoff bouts.
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Duncan's heir apparent, 7-foot-4 third-year All-Star center Victor Wembanyama, has finally arrived in San Antonio. Like Duncan (and Robinson), the can't-miss big man was selected with the No. 1 pick and was instantly appetizing. Although he has yet to make the postseason, he seems destined to bring the Spurs back to the playoffs this year — barring an injury or health issue, of course.
While chatting with Michelle Beadle, DeMarcus Cousins, Chandler Parsons and Lou Williams on FanDuel TV's "Run It Back," former two-time Spurs champion power forward Robert Horry (who won five other titles with the Hakeem Olajuwon-era Houston Rockets and the Shaquille O'Neal-era Los Angeles Lakers) made a bold prediction for the Frenchman.
"I think the only [accolade of Duncan's] that he cannot walk down is [winning five championships]," Horry said. "Because it's not about just you on that one. It's about everybody around you. They're a young team, they're still learning, they're going to make some mistakes. And they've got a young coach too [Mitch Johnson, who at 38 is younger than six active NBA players], he's going to make some mistakes."
While pushing the Spurs to an undefeated 4-0 record so far, the 21-year-old Wembanyama has been averaging 31.0 points on.603/.364/.800 shooting splits, 13.8 rebounds, 4.8 blocks (that is not a typo), 2.8 assists, and 1.5 steals a night this season.
"The defense, that's a wrap. He's going to blow all that out the water," Horry added. "But the key, like we said earlier, is him staying healthy because, if you look at what he's able to do and what he changes, you've never seen someone change your whole game plan up. Not just how you play, the whole team. He can switch out, he can stay like six feet from you, still block the shot."
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