Stew Thornley - Tim Duncan: Champion Basketball Star

San Antonio Spurs Superstar!

Tim Duncan is a dominant player. He can score against the best opponents with a flurry of strong moves near the basket, or he can step outside and bury his classic bank shot. On defense, he controls the paint. He blocks shots and corrals rebounds. Tim Duncan can do it all on the court. And all he does is win. Since joining the San Antonio Spurs in 1997, Duncan has led the team to four NBA titles and twelve straight fifty-win seasons. Author Stew Thornley explores the amazing career of this all-time great champion. SPO

About the Author

Stew Thornley is an award-winning author and researcher. He has written several sports books for Enslow Publishers, Inc. He is an official scorer for Major League Baseball.

Tim Duncan has led the San Antonio Spurs to many NBA titles.

Tim Duncan is not afraid of much. He plays basketball against some of the biggest and toughest players in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He does not back down from those opponents. Duncan does have a few fears, though. He says he is scared of sharks. He is also afraid of looking down from high places.

Tim Duncan grew up on St. Croix, an island in the Caribbean Sea, about forty miles east of Puerto Rico. It is part of the Virgin Islands of the United States. Sharks are often in the waters around the island.

Duncan now plays for the San Antonio Spurs. He lives in Texas. Sharks are not a danger there. However, his other fear is one that he still must face. Looking down from high places is something he does every day. Duncan is seven feet tall. That is a long way from the ground.

Duncan deals with that fear. His height helps him to be one of the best players in the NBA. He loves to spend time on the practice court. He works hard to improve his skills and it pays off.

Tim Duncans position on the basketball court is power forward. The job of a power forward is to score points. He also gets rebounds. It takes great strength to play this position. The area around the basket is full of defenders, usually large ones. It is not easy to score baskets in a crowd, and it takes a lot of muscle to grab rebounds. A power forward also has to be a good defensive player. Duncan can do all these things well. Duncan can also do a lot of other things that are not expected of a player his size. He is a good ball handler. He can also shoot from the outside. He loves to bank his shots off the backboard. He has a soft touch with his jump shots.

When Duncan joined the San Antonio Spurs in 1997, they already had a dominant big man, David Robinson. With both Duncan and Robinson on the floor at the same time, the Spurs were tough to beat. Duncan and Robinson won two NBA titles together. After Robinson retired, the Spurs continued to win titles with Duncan.

The Spurs won four NBA titles between 1999 and 2007. They had 42 different players on their championship teams. The only player on all four of those teams was Tim Duncan.

Tim Duncan is one of the best power forwards in NBA history.

Tim Duncan jumps to block a shot from LeBron James during the 2007 NBA Finals.

Tim Duncan was not having the best game of his life. The San Antonio Spurs were playing the Cleveland Cavaliers for the 2007 NBA championship. For the fourth time, Duncan was playing for a title.

In his first three NBA Finals, Duncan was named the Most Valuable Player (MVP). It wasnt likely he would get that honor again. Duncan was okay with that. He did not even mind that a player on the other team, LeBron James, was getting all the attention.

All that mattered to Duncan was that the Spurs win. He helped defend James in the first game of the series. In the second game, Duncan passed when he was being guarded by two players at the same time. Being double-teamed meant someone else on the Spurs was open, and Duncan found him with a pass. San Antonio won both games.

Tim Duncan takes a shot during Game 2 of the NBA Finals on June 10, 2007. Duncan did not shoot his best during the series, but he still helped lead the Spurs to victory with his rebounding, defense, and passing.

The Spurs also won Game 3 and were only one win away from the championship.

Tim Duncan, holding the championship trophy, celebrates with teammate and Finals MVP Tony Parker (right) after winning the 2007 NBA title.

The fourth game was a close one. Guards Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili were the leading scorers for the Spurs. Duncan had a tougher night, making few of his shots.

However, Duncan is a leader regardless of how well he plays. His presence on the court inspires his teammates and gives them confidence. He also finds other ways to make an impact. Late in the game, he made a pass to center Fabricio Oberto, who scored to give the Spurs a six-point lead. Then he knocked the ball away from James, keeping the Cleveland star from a chance for a basket.

San Antonio won the game, 8382, and claimed another championship.

Duncan praised his teammates, including Tony Parker, who was the Finals MVP. He also pointed out how well Spurs forward Bruce Bowen did guarding James. Bruce did an awesome job of standing in front of that guy and making life tough for him, he said.

Most of all, Duncan talked of how the Spurs are a true team. I didnt play the greatest, he said, but we found a way to win. Thats what this team is all about.

Tim Duncan was a good athlete as he grew up. But his first sport was not basketball. It was swimming. That was what someone growing up in the Virgin Islands did.

Tims parents helped their children with all the things they did. His father, William, worked at different jobs. His mother, Ione, was a midwife. She helped to deliver babies. Ione also found time to go to her childrens swimming races. She even helped out with timing the races.

In 1989, Ione Duncan found out she had cancer. It was very difficult, but she still worked at her job. She also kept going to swimming races. She was my biggest fan, said Tim Duncan. Every meet she was the loudest parent there. Somehow I could always pick out her voice yelling over everyone elses.

Tim Duncan got his start playing basketball in the Virgin Islands after his father put up a hoop in the familys yard. In this photo, Duncan shoots over teammate Fabricio Oberto during a Spurs training camp practice at the University of the Virgin Islands in October 2005.