25 most memorable moments from Tim Duncan’s career
By Brad Rowland
Tore cartilage in left knee – April 11, 2000
An injury cost Tim Duncan meaningful time on only one occasion in his career, and this was it. Duncan went down with torn cartilage in his knee suffered in a 48-minute war against the Sacramento Kings on April 11, and the ailment forced him to miss San Antonio’s last four regular season games and the entire 2000 NBA Playoffs.
In fairness, the Spurs probably weren’t going to dethrone a prime-level Lakers team led by Shaq and Kobe, but there is something odd about Tim Duncan not being available for the playoff run. Duncan has battled some knee issues throughout his career, but fortunately, this wasn’t a debilitating injury, and by the start of the 2000-2001 season, all was well.
Oh, and this injury cost him the 2000 Olympics as well. Don’t worry, the United States went undefeated on the way to the Gold Medal. That would have been a game-changer, but on the bright side, Duncan’s health was never a major issue despite the the shear length of his tenure in the association.
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