Some love for Tim Duncan

As the Cavs will take on the Spurs Monday night, I thought this would be a good time to talk about one of my favorite NBA players, Tim Duncan. It seems to me that at times, people forget about Duncan when mentioning the best players in the game, past and present. Well I'm here to tell you that not only is Tim Duncan one of the top players in the league now, but you could argue that he is the best "power forward" ever.  For some reason, Duncan seems to still be underrated and because he is quiet on and off the court, people forget about him. He never draws attention to himself on or off the court; when is the last time you heard his name mentioned in a negative light? Think hard, because I can't recall one incident. All he does in win championships and put up incredible stats.
- Speaking of stats, here are some of his career numbers (through Friday's games): 20,301 points (21.3 per game), 11,148 rebounds (11.7 per game), 2,212 blocks (2.3 per game) 50.8 field goal percentage (and yes, a stellar 68.7 free throw percentage.
- He's been to 12 All-Star games, has two league MVP awards, three Finals MVP awards, is a nine-time All-NBA First team honoree..oh yea, and he is four championship rings with the Spurs (1999, 2003, 05, 07). An incredible, automatic Basketball Hall of Fame resume. And at 34, he still has some good years in front of him. This season, his averages are 19.2 points and 10.9 rebounds per game.
- One of the things I always liked about Duncan was his consistency. In 13 NBA seasons, he has never averaged less than 18 points or 10.5 rebounds per game and has never shot less than 48.5 percent from the field. That means he's never had a sub-par season, in 13 years. Think of all of the variables that can happen to a player, or team, in each NBA season. Duncan has weathered the storms each year, although in fairness there aren't many storms in San Antonio to weather as the Spurs are consistently one of the best-run pro franchises in all of sports.
- Aside from the stats, Duncan is a winner, plain and simple. He'll go down as one of the best interior forces in league history, with a huge arsenal of offensive moves in the pain to go along with great rebounding and defensive skills. Also, Duncan is one of the best fundamental basketball players ever, ask Shaq, who coined  Duncan "The Big Fundamental". Very appropriate nickname.
- I didn't provide anything here that hasn't been said before by other NBA fans, but I wanted to shine some light on a guy that I feel gets forgotten about at times.