Living Legend
San Antonio Spurs retire basketball legend Tim Duncan's jersey
A legend will live on in the rafters of the AT&T Center. The San Antonio Spurs have announced that they will retire the No. 21 jersey in honor of Tim Duncan.
The gentle giant finished his 19-year career with the Spurs following the 2015-2016 season. Duncan's No. 21 will be the eighth Spurs jersey to hang above the court, alongside Bruce Bowen (No. 12), Sean Elliott (No. 32), George Gervin (No. 44), Avery Johnson (No. 6), Johnny Moore (No. 00), David Robinson (No. 50), and James Silas (No. 13).
The Spurs will retire the jersey on Sunday, December 18, during a special ceremony following a game against the New Orleans Pelicans. The ceremony will be broadcast live via Fox Sports.
With Wednesday's announcement, the NBA shared some staggering statistics about Duncan's storied career. Here are five of our favorite facts:
- Duncan is the third player in NBA history to have 1,000 career wins and the only to claim 1,000 with a single team.
- Duncan and Gregg Popovich boast the highest number of wins (1,001) from a player-coach duo.
- Duncan is one of two NBA stars to log 26,000 points, 15,000 rebounds, and 3,000 blocks (the other is Kareem Abdul-Jabbar).
- Duncan took the Spurs to the playoffs each of his 19 years with the franchise and led the team to five championship wins.
- Duncan is the only player to clock in 9,000 minutes in the playoffs.
