Former Spurs forward Tim Duncan retires his No. 21 jersey to the rafters of the AT&T Center Sunday night, officially immortalizing him as one of the greatest players in San Antonio Spurs history. The emotional retirement ceremony was done after his team defeated the New Orleans Pelicans 113-100.
The hour-long ceremony was hosted by Spurs legend Sean Elliot, and featured speeches from coach Gregg Popovich, who was emotional when he said that Duncan is "exactly the same person now as he was when he walked in the door," and Duncan's long-time teammates Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili. According to ESPN, Duncan became the eighth Spur in franchise history to have his jersey retired, joining George Gervin (44), David Robinson (50), Sean Elliott (32), James Silas (13), Avery Johnson (6), Bruce Bowen (12) and Johnny Moore (00).
USA Today said that the soft-spoken self, Duncan spoke for 4 minutes, 18 seconds, thanking a group sitting at center court that included his college coach at Wake Forest, Dave Odom, along with his children, several family members, former teammates Bowen, Parker, Ginobili, Robinson, Elliot, Spurs coach Gregg Popovich, and general manager R.C. Buford.
"To all of you in here, the fans, all of San Antonio - thank you," Duncan said. "The love and support is overwhelming, especially over the last couple weeks. Duncan only retired earlier in July after 19 seasons, five NBA championships and two MVP awards. Together with his teammates Parker and Ginobili, they combined to capture 126 career playoff victories together, the most in NBA history by any trio.
He also has 26,496 points, 15,091 rebounds, 3,020 blocks, and 1,392 games played. In his entire NBA career, Duncan has 1,001 regular season wins, which made him the only player with 1,000 plus wins with one team. Meanwhile, Duncan spends time at his BlackJack Speed Shop, which specializes in custom performance upgrades for cars, and shooting local spots for grocery store chain HEB.
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