5 reasons why Tim Duncan should retire

5: Duncan doesn’t need a retirement party

If Duncan were to play out the final year of his contract before retiring, he would play 20 seasons, all with the Spurs. It’s a perfectly round number, and every team in the league would presumably come up with something to try to honor him.

But unlike Kobe, where the Lakers needed a retirement party as a distraction from their on-the-court product, that’s simply not something he does. The reason that Duncan isn’t held in the same regard as Kobe or LeBron despite winning five rings is because of his personality, or lack thereof.

He’s not the most exciting interviewee ever, in fact there’s hardly ever a moment where he provides a memorable quote. But that’s because he’s not interested in the individual spotlight, but rather on winning and acting in the best interest of his team.

Let Kobe receive a gift from every NBA team and score 60 points on a team that tried its very best not to contest any of the shots he took. He’s one of the game’s great personalities and deserved to go out on a high note after the atrocious past few seasons he and the Lakers were having. But Duncan is the antithesis of that. His game has remained consistent, up until now, and if his final stat-line is 19 points on just 14 field goal attempts, then so be it.

Duncan’s retirement won’t be some sort of grand gesture, but as long as he rides off into the sunset, he’ll be remembered as an all-time great just the same. And perhaps there’s something poetic to that.

Next: 4: He's lost his drive