Legendary San Antonio Spurs forward Tim Duncan announced Monday that he will retire from the NBA after playing 19 seasons.
The retirement was announced in a statement in NBA.com. The 40-year-old, who spent his entire career with the Spurs and led them to five NBA titles, is considered one of the best players in NBA history.
Since being drafted first overall in 1997, Duncan led the Spurs to five championships in three decades, while making the postseason in every one of his 19 years. The Spurs' winning percentage of .710 is the best in any 19-year stretch of all time in the NBA, and is the best among all four major professional sports leagues in the United States in the past 19 years.
Duncan's career numbers show how dominating he was as a player. The 15-time All-Star is tied for most All-NBA Team selections with 15. He won the Rookie of the Year award (1998), league MVP twice (2002, 2003) and the NBA Finals MVP trophy thrice (1999, 2003, 2005). His career averages are 19.0 points, 10.8 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 2.17 blocks, while playing an average of 34.0 minutes per game. He leads the Spurs in total points (26,496), rebounds (15,091), blocks (3,020), minutes (47,368), and games played (1,392).
In a statement, NBA commissioner Adam Silver said about Duncan, published by USAToday, "Tim Duncan is one of the most dominant players in NBA history. His devotion to excellence and mastery of the game led to five NBA championships, two regular-season MVP awards and a place among the all-time greats, while his understated selflessness made him the ultimate teammate."
Duncan won his first championship in 1999 alongside former All-Star center David Robinson. He won his last ring 15 years later (2014) with current stars Tony Parker, Kawhi Leonard and Manu Ginobili. The trio of Duncan, Parker and Ginobili won four championships together.
Aside from playing for only one team throughout his career, Duncan played for only one coach in the NBA - Gregg Popovich. The duo has a combined 1,001 wins which is the most in NBA history. Duncan retires as one of only three players who have played for one team at least 19 seasons.
Take a look at some highlights of his illustrious career.