Soobum Im-USA TODAY Sports activities
High defensive accolades: 15 All-Defensive Group alternatives, 15 years receiving Defensive Participant of the Yr votes
NBA rank: third in defensive rebounds, fifth in blocks, 171st in steals
The all-time chief in All-Defensive Group honors, legendary energy ahead Tim Duncan earned the excellence an astonishing 15 instances in his profession, eight instances as a 1st Teamer and 7 instances as a 2nd Teamer. That’s 15 instances in a 19-year profession, a ridiculous stage for any participant to achieve, one that’s nearly arduous to consider in hindsight.
Much more unbelievable is that regardless of Duncan making that many All-Protection groups in his profession, he by no means gained Defensive Participant of the Yr, one of the surprising bits of trivia in NBA historical past. (He by no means even completed second within the vote both. He completed third twice, in ‘01 and ‘07.)
Regardless, Duncan ranks fifth in NBA historical past in complete blocks at 3,020, as he had implausible instincts when it got here to defending the paint, in addition to the quickness and size (the Wake Forest product had a reported 7-foot-5 wingspan) to make a huge effect as a shot-swatter. Whilst a 36-year-old in 2012-13, Duncan was nonetheless blocking 2.7 photographs per contest.
Duncan led the San Antonio Spurs to 5 championships throughout his 19 seasons there, a quantity that will have been tough to attain with out how nice of a defender the large man was.
