Duncan is probably the most low-key and unique of the top 10 superstars in history. He's not as paranoid as Jordan Kobe, not as topical as Bird's magician, not as king-made as Fat James. His career average of 19 points and 10.8 boards per game looks mediocre today, but it still does not stop him from becoming the undisputed number one forward in history. (Of course, Ma Jian may not approve of it)
Since people now like to look at table data, today Xiaobian will list four sets of data for Duncan's career. We can see how many people in today's league can play these mediocre statistics, and maybe many of them have not even played doubles in the Finals!
Duncan made a total of 1,392 appearances in the regular season, with a record of 1,001 wins and 391 losses. He averaged 19 points, 10.8 rebounds, 3 assists and 2.2 blocks per game.
He made 251 playoff appearances, 157 wins and 94 losses, and averaged 20.6 points, 11.4 rebounds, 3 assists and 2.3 blocks per game.
He made 34 appearances in the Finals, with a record of 23 wins and 11 losses, averaging 20.8 points, 11.3 rebounds, 2.8 assists and 2.4 blocks per game.
He made 20 appearances in the playoffs, with a record of 7 wins and 13 losses, averaging 22.3 points, 11.6 rebounds, 2.8 assists and 1.8 blocks per game.
As an older player who only entered the league at the age of 21, Duncan's career performances have been outrageously stable, which can be seen from the above data. In the first 12 seasons of his career, his scoring average fell below 19 points (18.6) in just one year, and nine of those years remained 20+. Considering that he was 21 years old when he entered the league and 34 years old when he was in his 12th year of career, as an interior player, he can still maintain a shooting rate of 50+ and average more than 6 free throws per game, it is indeed a bit scary.
Don't forget to average more than 2 blocks per game (the first 10 years of his career) and 3 or so assists per game. In fact, in the position of the big forward, the career average of 19+10 is so mediocre, only three people can achieve it, except for Duncan, that is, Malone and Barkley, and Malone and Barkley have never won a championship in their careers, and Duncan alone has 5 times.
Considering the decline in the data in the late years of his 19-year career, and the gradual shift of the team's offensive launch point to Parkmanu after 2007, duncan's role change is required, and Duncan's number of shots in 2007 has fallen to the second place in the team, and the playing time has also begun to decline. Therefore, Duncan's on-field data performance at his peak was much better than average. In addition, compared to the big forwards of his time, Duncan's strength lies not in one aspect of prominence, but in comprehensiveness and stability, as well as basketball IQ. Speaking of scoring data alone, he is not as good as Malone, he is not as good as Barkley in terms of offensive efficiency and rebounding, he is not as good as Barkley, he is not as good as KG, he is not as good as the driver when he says shooting. But he knows exactly how to use his strengths and avoid his weaknesses, and it just so happens that his arsenal is very rich, so that he can deal with it no matter what kind of opponent he faces.
1,389 games to complete a thousand wins, 19 seasons in his career and 18 rounds of playoffs, 6 career finals and 5 championships, the only time he lost was the Heat Ray Allen's desperate three-point reversal. Duncan and his Spurs, the first team to reach the top in the post-Jordan era, and the last team to win the championship before the Warriors' small-ball era, are still competitive across 3 generations, and few people can approach such achievements.