The greatest power forward in the history of professional basketball—not a modest description for such a modest competitor—turned 40 in April, and despite his 7-foot height and two decades of mileage in the NBA, he’s maintained a modicum of his best form. He scored an efficient 19 points Thursday night, capping the 19th season of a career that has seen him average 19 points per game.
There is no better way to describe Tim Duncan, one of the sport’s most reliable players, except to say that he is proof the word reliable is no disrespect. Reliability, consistency: Those qualities will enshrine him in memory as a model, hardly imitable for anyone who believes that around-the-clock practice and execution of the basics can produce excellence. (They’ll enshrine him in the NBA Hall of Fame, too.)
