July 11,
Legendary San Antonio Spurs power forward Tim Duncan has announced his retirement, ending a 19-year career.
Duncan was selected by the Spurs with the No. 1 pick in the first round of the 1997 NBA draft. He has played for the Spurs throughout his career since then, becoming a good story in the league.
Duncan quietly left the league in this tumultuous offseason, without a long speech, no retirement tour, and he didn’t even attend his own retirement press conference-this is very Duncan, and it is very “Stone Buddha”.
In the same offseason, Kevin Durant left the Oklahoma City Thunder who played for nine years and switched to the Golden State Warriors, while Dwyane Wade had no choice but to leave the Miami Heat who played for 13 years.
And joined the Chicago Bulls.
Durant has always been the absolute core during his time with the Thunder, and Wade is the soul who led the Heat to three championships. The departure of the two is embarrassing.
It is true that there are subjective reasons for the players. Durant is eager to win the championship, and Wade is tired of the contempt of the Heat’s management. But objectively, the current labor agreement in the league makes it difficult for players to stay on the same team as Duncan.
In the labor negotiations in 2011, the team owners wanted to implement a hard salary cap throughout the league, which would make transfers more difficult, and it would be difficult for a team to establish a dynasty. In order to protect the freedom of transfer, the players
, had to reduce the revenue share from 57% to 50% to reach a compromise.
If the hard salary cap is implemented, it will be difficult for Durant to transfer to the Warriors to change the signing of the league structure.
Short-term contracts are increasingly favored by the team’s management, which allows them to avoid risks similar to the “General” Gilbert Arenas who signed a big contract but suffered injuries and off-court problems and could not realize the expected value.
It also increases the turnover rate of players.
Indeed, the “Bird Clause” encourages players to stay on the original team, but the maximum salary system implemented in 1999 almost smoothed out the difference in interests between staying and leaving the team.
The NBA is a business field. This is not a cynical slander, but the league’s definition of itself-“a global sports and media business group”.
In business, money is the key, and Pat Riley is unwilling to sacrifice economic interests, so whether it is a hero or a team spirit, Wade can only leave.
But money is not everything. Duncan has cut his salary and renewed his contract with the team since 2013. Last season’s salary was only 5.25 million US dollars, less than a quarter of what it was four years ago. What keeps Duncan is other things.
There is an enviable mutual respect between Duncan and the San Antonio Spurs. Duncan is the soul and pillar of the Spurs, and the Spurs are the home of Duncan’s career.
Popovich’s sentence “I will announce my retirement ten minutes after Duncan retires” is a joke, but it shows the truth.
Until the last year of his career, Duncan also held the trade veto.
In order to protect Duncan and prolong his career, the Spurs strictly controlled Duncan’s playing time. Since the 2003-2004 season, Duncan’s average playing time in the regular season has never exceeded 35 minutes.
The Spurs’ winning culture allows the team to have strong cohesion and competitiveness every year.
In the 19 seasons since Duncan joined, the Spurs’ regular season winning percentage has never fallen below 60%, won five championships, and has not missed the playoffs for a year.
As a result, Duncan became the only player in NBA history to win 1,000 regular season games with the same team. His career winning percentage of 71% ranks first among the four major professional sports leagues in North America.
Duncan made the Spurs, and the Spurs made Duncan.
Even in the last year of his career, the 40-year-old Duncan still played the mainstay role of the team, especially on the defensive end.
After a narrow loss to the Thunder in the Western Conference semifinals, Duncan waved as he walked into the tunnel.
At that time, fans didn’t realize that we not only bid farewell to a legendary superstar, but may also bid farewell to the golden age of a player who chose to die in a city.
On July 11, the legendary San Antonio Spurs power forward Tim Duncan announced his retirement, ending his 19-year career.
Duncan was selected by the Spurs with the No. 1 pick in the first round of the 1997 NBA draft. He has played for the Spurs throughout his career since then, becoming a good story in the league.
Duncan quietly left the league in this tumultuous offseason, without a long speech, no retirement tour, and he didn’t even attend his own retirement press conference-this is very Duncan, and it is very “Stone Buddha”.
In the same offseason, Kevin Durant left the Oklahoma City Thunder who played for nine years and switched to the Golden State Warriors, while Dwyane Wade had no choice but to leave the Miami Heat who played for 13 years.
And joined the Chicago Bulls.
Durant has always been the absolute core during his time with the Thunder, and Wade is the soul who led the Heat to three championships. The departure of the two is embarrassing.
It is true that there are subjective reasons for the players. Durant is eager to win the championship, and Wade is tired of the contempt of the Heat’s management. But objectively, the current labor agreement in the league makes it difficult for players to stay on the same team as Duncan.
In the labor negotiations in 2011, the team owners wanted to implement a hard salary cap throughout the league, which would make transfers more difficult, and it would be difficult for a team to establish a dynasty. In order to protect the freedom of transfer, the players
, had to divide the income into