Tim Duncan may be gone from the court, but he isn’t done with the San Antonio Spurs, reports Buck Harvey of the San Antonio Express-News (H/T CBSSports):
They still have him around, though. Duncan hasn’t been in the Spurs’ practice facility every day this summer, but he was there this week. He hits the weight machines, does some shooting, hangs around the guys.
Most in the organization think Duncan will eventually join the franchise in a full-time capacity. They guess he won’t coach but will instead focus on personnel. Duncan has long been intrigued by the methods that Popovich and Buford use to identify talent.
Duncan has at times disagreed with their decisions only to be proven wrong. He’s curious why.
Duncan is the greatest power forward to ever step foot on a basketball court, and he spent all 19 years of his professional career with the Spurs. That is a rarity in the NBA. Even reliably loyal players such as Dwyane Wade and Paul Pierce move on to other teams late in their career.
Some players, aside from Duncan, who spent their entire careers with a single franchise: Kobe Bryant, John Stockton, Reggie Miller, Dirk Nowitzki, Magic Johnson, Bill Russell, Larry Bird, John Havlicek
Elgin Baylor, Jerry West, David Robinson, Tony Parker, Manu Ginobili.
Having a star player — such as any of those listed above — stick around with a franchise through an entire career is a blessing for that team. You can’t think of the Spurs without thinking of Duncan. He is the embodiment of that franchise, which is why it isn’t at all weird to hear that he is leaning towards staying in San Antonio and working with the team. This way, Gregg Popovich won’t have to miss him.
