Tim Duncan made the decision to retire on Monday after the best 19 year run with one team in the history of the NBA. He did it in a very private and subdued Tim Duncan way of course without the frills or attention.
It will be very bizarre to see the Spurs take the floor next season with Duncan nowhere to be found, as he is as synonymous with his franchise as any athlete in professional sports history.
Duncan entered the league at the age of 21 in 1997, and retired at the age of 40 in 2016. One of the reasons that Duncan was able to last in the NBA and play at a high level for so long seems to be his incredible ability to not really age. Look at this photo of Tim Duncan in his first game in 1997 and his final game in 2016.
Tim Duncan: First Game, Last Game pic.twitter.com/qTwJA0PaPL
— Darren Rovell (@darrenrovell) July 11, 2016
Outside of the addition of a little salt to match the pepper in Duncan’s goatee and the disappearance of the slight acne issues that seemed to affect Duncan as a rookie in 1997, Duncan almost looks identical. He appears to have found the fountain of youth on and off the court, which may be the reason he had one of his better seasons at the age of 36 and was 20 seconds away from winning an NBA Finals MVP award at the age of 37.
Now his transformation in the virtual world from 1997 to 2016 was a much different story…
Tim Duncan in the original NBA2K in 1999 vs his appearance in NBA2K16 (H/T @ObsevSports) pic.twitter.com/dB07A3dqSx
— Darren Rovell (@darrenrovell) July 13, 2016
1997 virtual Duncan looks like some weird youthful combination of Muggsy Bogues and Austin Rivers, but with huge, incredibly thick arms. The 2016 version looks much more realistic of course but still has thicker arms than the real-life version.
That is the true mark of the the longevity of Tim Duncan’s career, he entered the NBA when Seinfeld was still on the air, 35 percent of American households owned a computer and video games were barely three dimensional.
