Tim Duncan

When the Spurs won the 1997 NBA Draft lottery, the entire basketball loving world knew they would make Tim Duncan the No. 1 overall selection. The NCAA Division I Player of the Year had just set an all-time NCAA record for career rebounds (1,570) that would last until 2011. He was a can't-miss prospect, a franchise changer, the best big man to come out of the college ranks since Shaquille O'Neal in 1992.

Even with such high expectations, nobody could have predicted the run of excellence that would make Duncan a member of the NBA's mythical All-Time top 10, a list that includes legends like Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, Bill Russell, Oscar Robertson, Wilt Chamberlain, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and Elgin Baylor.

Spurs fans should make the case that he belongs in the All-Time top five.

What no one attending the draft at Charlotte Coliseum on June 25, 1997, knew about Duncan was the competitive fire that stoked his approach to the game nor the self-discipline that would allow him to drive himself through 19 seasons at a level of excellence never seen in a player of his age.

Consider: as a 21-year-old rookie in 1997–98 Duncan produced a Player Efficiency Rating of 22.6, a number that clearly identified him as an All-Star-caliber performer. Seventeen years later, as a 39-year-old veteran in 2014–15, he produced an identical PER, 22.6, and was named third-team All-NBA and made the All-Defensive second team.

The longevity of Duncan's excellence is unparalleled in NBA history.

The native of St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands, benefited from playing alongside former NBA Most Valuable Player David Robinson from the very beginning of his career. Recognizing Duncan's superior offensive skills, Robinson shared his go-to role on the Spurs with the rookie; the veteran led the team in points scored at 21.6, the rookie averaged 21.1. Duncan also averaged a team-high 11.9 rebounds per game and was named to the All-Defensive second team.

He was a unanimous choice as Rookie of the Year.

It took only one exhibition game against the Houston Rockets, in which Duncan scored 17 points and grabbed 17 rebounds while playing less than 30 minutes, for eventual Hall of Fame power forward Charles Barkley to declare: "I have seen the future and he wears No. 21. He was quite impressive, better than I expected, and I expected a lot. He's polished. Very polished."

Duncan was disappointed he was not able to push the Spurs past their playoff nemesis, the Utah Jazz, in that rookie season, the Spurs falling to Karl Malone, John Stockton, and Co., in five games.

He would not have to wait long to taste true playoff success.

An NBA championship, the Spurs' first, in 1999, also produced the first of Duncan's three Most Valuable Player performances in the Finals.

Taking over as the Spurs' leading scorer in the lockout-shortened 1998–99 season, Duncan again made first-team All-NBA and first-team All-Defensive, but his dominant performance in the Spurs' 4–1 NBA Finals triumph over the New York Knicks was even more impactful than what he had done in the regular season. He averaged 27.4 points, 14.0 rebounds, and 2.2 blocked shots per game and was a unanimous choice as the MVP of the series.

Duncan had to suffer through the disappointment of missing the playoffs with a knee injury in 1999–2000. It was bad timing for him and the club, as it preceded his first free-agent summer. He re-signed with the Spurs despite a serious push by the Orlando Magic to make Duncan and Pistons forward Grant Hill a free-agency package for the ages.

There would be more playoff disappointment — back-to-back losses to the Lakers in the 2001 and 2002 Western Conference semifinals, including being swept in 2001 with blowout losses (by 39 and 29 points) in Games 3 and 4.

Duncan won the first of his two regular-season Most Valuable Player Awards in 2001–02, when he averaged 25.5 points and 12.7 rebounds per game and was, once again, an All-Defensive first-team pick. None of that helped the Spurs in another disheartening loss to the Lakers in the conference semifinals.

When the Spurs met the Lakers in the 2003 semifinals, Duncan was a man on a mission. With a chance to close out the series in the Lakers' Staples Center in Game 6, he poured in 37 points and grabbed 16 rebounds.

Duncan was a clear choice as league MVP that season, as well, with averages of 23.3 points and career highs of 12.9 rebounds and 2.9 blocks per game. When he led the Spurs to a 4–2 Finals...