SPORTS NOTES - Spurs Duncan Ain't Funkin Around

James Loving - National Radio Text Service

If there ever was a stone face in the NBA it is Duncan. He comes into a game to bury the opponent and not to praise them.

Saturday April 19, 2001 - Update Satur May 24, 2001

If there's one thing that the San Antonio Spurs forward/center Tim Duncan can do its put a funk on the opponent. When someone is in a funk they are out of sorts or feeling poorly, in a bad mood.

In his unemotional low-key way the 7-0/260 (2,13m/118kg) all-star knows how to gracefully chew up his opponents and spit them out. You could say that Duncan ain't funkin around… he knows what he's doing when he puts the adversary in a funk.

Now in his fourth NBA season Duncan is poised to help his team retrieve the NBA title that they won in the strike shortened 50-game, 1999 season. He was selected as the 1999 NBA Finals MVP in their 4-1 series victory over the New York Knicks.

This season, along with follow Twin Tower David Robinson, they have helped lead their team to a 7-2 record in first and second round matches losing only one game in each series to the Minnesota Timberwolves and the Dallas Mavericks. They dominated Minnesota in the first round taking the series 3-1. They wiped out their fellow Texan Mavericks in the second round 4-1.

The Spurs have a league best 58-24 regular season record that gives them home court advantage throughout the playoffs. Their most formidable roadblock in achieving that goal is obviously… as they say in LA…"You're Los Angles Lakers!"

Trivia Question: What happened to Dennis Rodman on May 13th?

Yes it's a rematch of the 1999 semifinal series in which San Antonio swept the Lakers 4-0, prompting O'Neal to smash a television and a VCR in the locker room after the loss. The homeboy wasn't a happy camper losing in his hometown where he played basketball at Cole High School. Sooo…. For real, he's a … San Antonio Home Boy.

Yes it's the same opponent but this time Kobe (Don't call me sizzle without steak - OR Where's The Beef?) Bryant has matured and blossomed as a player and also has a NBA title under his belt.

This will be an interesting series. A serious fundamental basketball team verses the flash and dash of the Lakers. Each team has two future NBA Hall Of Fame Players.

Here's the rub… Duncan and Robinson are like prototype NBA players of the past. No flash, no dash, no look at me and see how pretty I am (Hi mom) into the TV cameras. Duncan shows no ego or emotion. To get emotion out of him is like keeping a cricket quiet… it seldom happens. If there ever was a stone face in the NBA it is Duncan. He comes into a game to bury the opponent and not to praise them.

Duncan has always been respected, from those in the know, as a serious, fundamentally sound basketball player. Those who are in the know are NBA basketball scouts and coaches. That's their job. Also those in the know are former NBA All-Star players.

Former Boston Celtic John "Hondo" Havlicek is the team's all-time leading scorer with 26,395 points that also makes him the sixth all-time highest scorer in NBA history. He was a member of eight Celtic NBA championship teams and is a member of the Hall Of Fame. He appeared in 13 consecutive all-star games and was selected as one of the top 50 players to ever play in the NBA.

When asked who his favorite current NBA player is he chose Duncan and gave reasons why to NBA.Com.

"That attitude that he has, the way he graces himself on the floor and plays the game," Havlicek said. "I just like his demeanor and purposefulness on the floor."

When Duncan graduated from Wake Forest University with a degree in psychology he was the most sought after player in the NBA draft. He was voted the College Player of the Year in 1997.

The center/forward also won the Naismith and John Wooden Awards. He holds the NCAA record for most rebounds in a four-year career 1,570. Those achievements resulted in him becoming the overwhelming overall number one draft selection in 1997.

Since that time Duncan has won the NBA Rookie of the Year title in 1998 in addition to the NBA title. He was the first rookie to be named to the All-NBA team since Larry Bird in 1980.

He has been selected to the NBA's All NBA first team EVERY YEAR that he has been in the league. He has been a member of the NBA's All-Defensive first team in 1999, 2000. He was selected to the All-Defensive second-team in 1998.

Duncan is only the second person in NBA history to be named to the All-NBA team and All-NBA Defensive team in each of his first three years in the league. Teammate David Robinson is the other, having achieved the fete every year of his first seven seasons in the league.

This past regular season Duncan ranks in the top 10 in 14 of the 23 NBA statistic categories. He ranked number one in double doubles [double figures in points & rebounds per game] garnering 66 during the 82 game season. He has led the league in that category since his second season in the league. He finished runner-up to Allen Iverson for this years NBA MVP title.

Duncan isn't a spectacular, gaudy player. He's consistent. He entered this season with a 22.0 points per game NBA career average. He averaged 21.1 as a rookie placing him 13th on the list that year. This season he had a 22.2 regular season average. He averaged 22.5 in the first round series against Minnesota and 27.0 in the second round against Dallas.

The 6'11" Spur has a career playoff average of 23.0 ppg. His career high scoring total is 46 against the Utah Jazz January 10, 2000. His high this season is 42 against the Sacramento Kings April 12, 2001.

The surprising thing is basketball was not on the mind of the now 25-year-old (birth date, April 25, 1976) when he was growing up in the Virgin Islands. He didn't play organized basketball until he was in the ninth grade. He was a serious swimmer and tops in the 400 freestyle event for his age group.

If it wasn't for Hurricane Hugo's destruction of Duncan's swimming pool in 1989, he could have become an Olympic swimmer who's time would probably would have been past rather than and All-Star NBA talent who's future is just beginning.

Swimming is taken seriously in the Duncan family. His sisters Cheryl and Tricia were members of the Virgin Islands swim team in the 1998 Olympics.

How ironic how a hurricane could change the course of history. Instead of swimming for a gold medal in the Olympics once every four years, he is now down in the NBA trenches trying to win his second NBA title in his four year NBA career. To achieve that goal Duncan won't be funkin around….he knows what he's doing.

Trivia Answer:

Dennis Rodman was born (or created) on May 13th 1961 in Trenton New Jersey. He recently celebrated his Big Four-Ohhhh!!!! 40th birthday.

If you didn't send him a birthday card you can send him a belated one to Dennis Rodman, Newport Beach California, USA.

He's like Santa Claus when you send Santa a letter to the North Pole. The Newport Beach Post Office and police know who Rodman is…. He'll probably receive your belated birthday card.

You can say what you want about Rodman. He's been accused of being a cross dresser. He's been accused of being a malcontent. We're not here to judge or bury Rodman...that's up to you if you choose to go that route.

One thing for certain is he was an achieving basketball player with limited skills who got the max out of them. He was a member of five NBA championship teams. He's a shy introverted person who turned himself into an extrovert by becoming an actor.

You can say what you ant about Rodman but one thing you can't say, is that he is not being Dennis Rodman. He has worked hard to achieve and overcome adversity….and that's the bottom line.