With no fanfare, Spurs’ legend Tim Duncan retired on his own terms

To fans of the San Antonio Spurs, he was affectionately known as Timmy.

To a lot of NBA fans, he was simply known as the greatest power forward to ever play this game.

Tim Duncan announced his retirement Monday morning. And in typical Duncan fashion, it was done with no fanfare, no confetti, and no press conference.

Duncan didn’t hop on Twitter, Facebook or Snapchat to say he’s leaving the game for good. Not that he’s involved in the social media world.

The announcement came in a simple eight-paragraph press release from the Spurs depicting Duncan’s numerous accomplishments. And there were absolutely no quotes from Duncan or the Spurs in the press release.

That’s so Duncan.

But that didn’t stop Dallas Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle from chiming in and offering worthy praise towards Duncan, who had a history of tormenting the Mavs.

"Over 19 years Tim Duncan demonstrated the simplicity of greatness as a competitor, human being and ambassador for our game,’’ Carlisle said. "It is simply impossible to find enough accolades to describe his wide-ranging impact on NBA culture and history.’’

Duncan knows NBA fans would have loved to have said one last goodbye to him. They would have loved to have showered him with gifts – perhaps a rocking chair or two -- and paid an inordinate amount of cash to see him play in their city one last time.

But Duncan has a psychology degree from Wake Forest. And in his mind, allowing you to know this is the last time you’re going to see him play in your city so you can make a fuss over him just doesn’t matter to him.

Duncan’s mind was on another level. So was his game.

In his 19 NBA seasons – all with the Spurs – Duncan won five world titles, was the Finals’ Most Valuable Player three times, and the regular season MVP two times. He also had more postseason double-doubles (164) than any player, and was second in playoff wins (157).

In addition, Duncan joins John Salley as the only players in history to win NBA championships in three different decades.

Since drafting Duncan No. 1 overall in 1997, the Spurs carved out a 71 percent winning percentage while posting a 1,072-438 won-loss record. The only other NBA, NFL, NHL, or MLB team with a better than .700 winning percentage during that time frame are the New England Patriots at 70.4 percent.

Duncan has been such an anchor with the Spurs that he’s as synonymous with San Antonio as the Alamo and the River Walk. In a city with only one major pro sports franchise, Duncan was the kind of kings, the alpha and omega.

A man of few words, I’ll never forget Duncan sitting on the bench during a game in April of 2007 against the Mavs at American Airlines Center and laughing at what he perceived as repeated bad calls against the Spurs by the Joey Crawford-led officiating crew. A proud man, Crawford didn’t take too kindly to Duncan’s laughter.

So Crawford – who obviously wasn’t in a mood for humor that night -- slapped Duncan with a technical foul with 2:20 remaining in the third quarter. And with 1:04 left in the third quarter, Crawford tagged Duncan with a second technical foul and automatic ejection for laughing at another perceived bad call while he was sitting on the bench.

Ironically, Duncan rarely wore a smile while he played. While he was steady, efficient and dominant, and was as stoic as they come.

Duncan also rarely endorsed products, as he never wanted to be intricately involved in that part of the NBA game.

Duncan just wanted to put on his shorts, jersey, socks and sneakers, and go out and pound the other team into submission. He cared less about headlines or putting his name up in lights.

By announcing his retirement Monday instead of at some point while this past season was still in progress, Duncan systematically avoided the crush of media and fans that would have obviously invaded his privacy and begged for one last press conference, one last handshake, and one last selfie.

The low-key Duncan never wanted to be part of that world. Duncan just wanted to be Timmy.

And to the end, he was.

Dwain Price can be heard every Wednesday from 3-4 p.m. on dfwiradio.com　

This story was originally published July 11, 2016 at 11:34 AM with the headline "With no fanfare, Spurs’ legend Tim Duncan retired on his own terms."