A former teammate and friend of Tim Duncan's doesn't believe that the Fundamental is hanging them up just yet.
At least one person familiar with Duncan's thinking has a guess as to what the Spurs legend will do.“I would be very surprised if he retired,” said Antonio Daniels, Duncan's friend and former teammate with the Spurs. “As long as he's staying at a level where he feels like he's relevant and competing, I can't see it.”
Source: Duncan thought to be leaning toward return; Manu not so sure - San Antonio Express-News.
The list of guys who just did what Duncan did in the playoffs is not very long and is filled with some unbeleivable names. You can say "Yeah, and look at the age he did it at!" but that defeats the point. Duncan doesn't want to continue to play well "for a guy his age." He wants to play well. And he has. He was a DPOY candidate this year, the rock that kept the Spurs afloat during Kawhi Leonard's absence, and this is how close he was to winning that first-round series vs. the Clippers.
That's crazy. Duncan can come back and play two more years, four more years. It's not a question of how he can play. There is, however, a bigger question. Even if he can, does he want to? That's the real question. It's not about whether he can or should at this point. He's won five titles, made over $200 million, cemented his legacy, and can still play at a top-three-starter-on-a-playoff-team level. It's whether he wants to get up every day, get on planes, get off of planes, play in Milwaukee in February, deal with the injuries, the soreness, the exhaustion. That's the question here.
It's the only one that matters; does Tim Duncan want to play in the NBA next year?
