Today marks a sad day for the sport of basketball, as one of the best who has ever done it—five-time NBA champ Tim Duncan—decided to call it a career after 19 seasons with the San Antonio Spurs, who drafted the former Wake Forest product No. 1 overall in 1997.
With his five titles, two league MVP Awards, three NBA Finals MVPs, 15 All-Star appearances and spots on multiple All-NBA and All-NBA Defensive Teams, Duncan is, without a doubt, the best power forward to ever play the game.
Sure, others can make their case—notably Karl Malone, Dirk Nowitzki and Charles Barkley—but they have nothing on The Big Fundamental when it comes to overall greatness.
What Duncan accomplished during his career is unmatched, setting new standards for his position and, more than likely, giving us all something we’ll never see again. That’s why he’s the best power forward in NBA history.