Gregg Popovich and Tim Duncan are becoming timeless figures in the NBA.
Actually, that statement could have been made for at least the past five seasons. The two have teamed up to dominate the league for 15-plus seasons, and every time you start to wonder if age – at least for Duncan – would finally catch up to him, he somehow manages to come back even stronger.
That certainly has been the case again this season for the 36-year-old, who is having one of his best all-around seasons in quite some time. In just under 30 minutes of play, the power forward/center is dominating the competition with averages of 17.2 points, 9.9 rebounds and 2.7 assists. Even more impressive, he’s somehow shooting a career-best 80.9 percent from the stripe, while also blocking a whopping 2.7 shots – a number he last reached as a 27-year-old playing nearly 37 minutes per game. Tony Parker has garnered much of the attention for the team’s success this season – and rightfully so – but they simply would not be as good as they have been without Duncan’s presence on the floor.
As for Popovich, his track record speaks for itself: the man has helped the Spurs win 50-plus games every season since the 1997-1998 season, with the exception of a lockout-shortened season in 1998-1999, when they went 37-13 and won an NBA Championship.