Well, it happened. Tim Duncan retired. Just like that. There wasn’t really a warning. There were hints, none of them strong.
Which is just how Duncan would have wanted it to be. He is unique in that he doesn’t give two flying effs about convention, about how he should leave the game, or about how you think he should leave the game. There will never be another Duncan—hence Popovich referring to him as irreplaceable during Tuesday’s press conference, per Michael C. Wright of ESPN.com:
He’s irreplaceable. It can’t happen. We’re all unique. I guess each one of us is unique. But he’s been so important to so many people, it’s just mind boggling. To think that he’s going to be gone makes it really difficult to imagine walking into practice, going to a game, getting on the bus, taking him a piece of carrot cake—whatever it might be.
You don’t see Timmy beating his chest as if he was the first human being to dunk the basketball, as a lot of people do these days. He’s not pointing to the sky. He’s not glamming to the cameras. He just plays, and we’ve seen it for so long it’s become almost mundane. But it’s so special that it has to be remembered.
Personally, this is all too surreal right now. I didn’t really see Duncan’s retirement coming. I knew it was on the table, but I honestly expected him to run it back for one more season with this current San Antonio Spurs core. If Kevin Durant doesn’t join the Golden State Warriors, thus complicating the Spurs’ path to the NBA Finals beyond comprehension, part of me believes he would still be coming back.
Alas, he’s gone, on his terms, in that he still hasn’t said a public goodbye. And that’s so Duncan. He is a one-of-a-kind player, leader and, as we know all too well by now, person.
