*MUST READ* Denver Post: "Old style Duncan a savior&qu

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By Mark Kiszla<br>
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For all you NBA haters - all you former fans who have not loved this game since Earvin Johnson lost his magic and the air went pfttt from Michael Jordan - here is your savior. <br>
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Tim Duncan wears black every time he pulls on the uniform of the San Antonio Spurs. But he deserves to be the good guy who makes it safe for the league to be fantastic again.<br>
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We all have been too busy grousing about guys who flash tattoos but show zero heart to open our eyes and see how basketball was meant to be played.<br>
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In the list of the NBA's flashiest stars, Duncan cannot crack the top five.<br>
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But Duncan has done something that Shaquille O'Neal, Kobe Bryant, Kevin Garnett, Allen Iverson and Tracy McGrady have not.<br>
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Nevertheless, when Duncan was named league MVP for the second consecutive time Sunday, he said, "It doesn't matter who gets the glory."<br>
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And Duncan meant it. There is no false humility in him. In fact, there are no artificial ingredients anywhere in this 7-foot, 260-pound player. Duncan is pure basketball.<br>
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Duncan is not hip-hop. He is as old-school as Miles Davis, just as smooth and twice as cool.<br>
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Duncan does not dunk with one self-aggrandizing eye searching for the TV cameras to capture his mugging for posterity. He softly kisses home a bank shot, humbly drops his head and runs back to play defense.<br>
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Duncan refuses to talk smack. In fact, it's hard to get a word out of him. The first time I ever interviewed Duncan was at the Final Four in 1997. Somebody had handed him a trophy adorned with the likeness of Naismith or Wooden. Then, the college player of the year plopped himself down on a short flight of steps, and confided, "If you're expecting me to tell you how great I am, you're wasting your time."<br>
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We all have been too busy, wasting our time looking for the next Jordan. When Duncan became the first player since you-know-who to win the MVP trophy two straight years, he did not show up for the awards ceremony flashing his bling-bling. He wore a black T-shirt.<br>
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When a teammate was asked if Duncan would dash out and splurge on gaudy rings as presents for the guys in the San Antonio locker room to celebrate his achievement, Spurs guard Bruce Bowen said that a sheet cake was more TD's speed than diamond jewelry.<br>
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Duncan did not drive a Hummer as a teenager or get rich for life because he won a high school championship. He stayed four years at Wake Forest and got himself educated before declaring for the NBA draft or declaring himself to be a man.<br>
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In the final assist by Utah guard John Stockton before retiring, he passed the mantle of quiet dignity to Duncan.<br>
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Which is precisely Duncan's problem. There are so many channels and so much traffic in U.S. pop culture that you need to scream to be heard.<br>
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Although the MVP votes don't lie, his lack of noise hurts Duncan's street credibility.<br>
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While San Antonio sidekick David Robinson insists he would start his basketball team with Duncan, ask almost any kid running on the playground, and the names given the most props for best hoopster in the world would be O'Neal, Bryant and Iverson.<br>
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That ain't right. But there's only one way Duncan can change the image.<br>
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He must dethrone the Los Angeles Lakers, the symbol of Hollywood glitz, NBA style. If the Lakers are Leonardo DiCaprio, then Duncan is George Strait.<br>
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Oh, Duncan has won an NBA championship, in 1999. But Lakers coach Phil Jackson disses the achievement as requiring an asterisk.<br>
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O'Neal has griped that Bryant and nobody else was the top player in the league this year.<br>
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After losing the regular-season series 4-0 to the Spurs, Los Angeles swaggered into Game 1 of the Western Conference semifinals in San Antonio on Monday night, with Jackson and Bryant both suggesting the Lakers could pull a sweep when it mattered most, in the playoffs.<br>
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Duncan is everything America professes to be and wants the NBA to become again: strong, humble, serious fun.<br>
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There is no question who the MVP is, but there is only one way Duncan can be recognized as the No. 1 player in the world. He must shut down O'Neal and Bryant.<br>
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All Duncan wants to do is shut up and play. How can you not root for him?<br>
<p></p><i>Edited by: <A HREF=http://pub179.ezboard.com/bsanantoniospurs62937.showUserPublicProfile?gid=pitter5008@sanantoniospurs62937>Pitter5008</A> at: 5/6/03 4:45:57 am<br></i>

Pitter thanks for finding and posting this article. It is great! <p></p><i></i>

<!--EZCODE QUOTE START--><blockquote><strong><em>Quote:</em></strong><hr>shut up and play<hr></blockquote><!--EZCODE QUOTE END--><br>
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I hope I see this on several signs on the 100 level on Wednesday. Sounds like a good tagline for this series.<br>
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Great article!!<br>
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Simply shows the true Duncan... <p> <br>
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<!--EZCODE QUOTE START--><blockquote><strong><em>Quote:</em></strong><hr>"If you're expecting me to tell you how great I am, you're wasting your time."<hr></blockquote><!--EZCODE QUOTE END--><br>
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Awesome. <p>-Brian</p><i></i>

Now we need more reporters like that.. not blinded by the lights of LA, spewing dribble, and reporting what the "BIG MARKET MONEY" wants to read. <p></p><i></i>

great find!<br>
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Duncan is the greatest. You guys don't know how lucky you are. Dirk posseses that same humility. Neither one likes to toot their own horns. <p><!--EZCODE IMAGE START--><img src="http://www.sahoops.net/SuperB2000.jpg" style="border:0;"/><!--EZCODE IMAGE END--><!--EZCODE BR START--><br /><!--EZCODE BR END--><!--EZCODE BR START--><br /><!--EZCODE BR END--><!--EZCODE BOLD START--><strong><!--EZCODE IMAGE START--><img src="http://groups.msn.com/_Secure/0SwDfAqwVoSVoAA32Jm63CuxkhPlLG1RqItvUz6P0G2ZGqaXsdIsZvNTNsBVZMxIZNDjzIfjswtSZoXeps8JXpUlpuKtG4PcrvHag9GcALTXKmz0fMIgxVA/super-B20001.jpg" style="border:0;"/><!--EZCODE IMAGE END--></strong><!--EZCODE BOLD END--></p><i></i>

That is probably the best artcile I have ever read. The way some "superstars" play and conduct themselves has damaged the game of basketball. NIce to see that someone besides US recognizes that. <p></p><i>Edited by: <A HREF=http://pub179.ezboard.com/bsanantoniospurs62937.showUserPublicProfile?gid=blondie@sanantoniospurs62937>Blondie</A>  <IMG HEIGHT=10 WIDTH=10 SRC="http://homepage.eircom.net/~bray/em/orose.gif " BORDER=0> at: 5/6/03 8:34:55 pm<br></i>

<!--EZCODE QUOTE START--><blockquote><strong><em>Quote:</em></strong><hr>He is as old-school as Miles Davis, just as smooth and twice as cool.<hr></blockquote><!--EZCODE QUOTE END--><br>
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nice.<br>
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shut up and play...that was our neighborhood "motto" whenever we played any sport. If you got disrespectful...you got dealt with. I guess that is why I decline invites to play pickup ball...well that and a lack of talent....I miss those days. <p><!--EZCODE CENTER START--><div style="text-align:center"><!--EZCODE LINK START--><a href="http://www.sahoops.net/"><!--EZCODE IMAGE START--><img src="http://groups.msn.com/_Secure/0RQDqBOQUv96Q*aAyXJvhC4PpiqY5aClJPVxG2NkCtZhZohfA18sp9cB0Mm2RXo3eDH31HP7*AzJAdc6m90L45YCEuPWDr1AM8aLtyvld1AI/SAmikeyp.jpg"/><!--EZCODE IMAGE END--></a><!--EZCODE LINK END--></div><!--EZCODE CENTER END--><br>
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That is an awesome article...exactly what Ive been thinking about the NBA for the last few years...all glitz...with no game. Me and my brother in law always talk about the old school games of the 80s and 90s about how players used to pass the ball to the open man, to the player with the hot had, hell...just pass the ball period! The SPURS are definetly the team to bring back that type of game...it might not be flashy with all the dunks or one one one dazzle of some players but it will be a fun game to watch and see all the players on the floor be involved. LOVE THE SPURS!!! <p>Pablo P. Kazzo<br>
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Sports Fan<br>
Dallas Cowboys Fan<br>
San Antonio Spurs Fan<br>
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Where the fans make the right calls.<br>
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Good article. <!--EZCODE EMOTICON START :rock --><img src=http://www.myezboard.com/projects/ezboard/ezboard_userimages/spursdominion/images/rock.gif ALT=":rock"><!--EZCODE EMOTICON END--> Sums up Tim and the Spurs nicely - winning games by not flashy, and classiness off the court. <!--EZCODE EMOTICON START :toast --><img src=http://www.myezboard.com/projects/ezboard/ezboard_userimages/ACF22C5.gif ALT=":toast"><!--EZCODE EMOTICON END--> <p></p><i></i>