Tim Duncan was invited by President Barack Obama to attend the Rio Olympics but find out why he rejected his invitation.
There’s always a few moments in everyone’s lives where they regret not going to something. Missing out on something is one of the worst feelings around. So when you’re asked by the President of the United States to take a plane ride to Rio, you say “yes” as quickly as humanly possible right?
Not if you’re Tim Duncan.
In an interview with Sports Illustrated, Bruce Bowen spoke about his former teammate and even included the tale how the future Hall of Famer turned down the POTUS.
“Tim, his legacy is always going to be more of the foundation guy in San Antonio, and a guy that wasn’t ever concerned with the limelight,” said Bowen, “but more importantly concerned with others, making sure they could really make the most out of their potential.”
“It’s not often you find individuals like that. And it’s funny that he was offered an opportunity to fly down here with the President of the United States, and he discussed it with me and I’m like ‘You’re going right?’ He was like ‘You know I’m not about that stuff.'”
There are a few people you don’t turn down no matter what, and President Obama is one of them. Yet Duncan did because arriving in style with the President is just not who Duncan is, was, or ever will be.
He was a player who cared about winning. He cared about his teammates, his coaches, and those around him. Duncan never cared about the flashy things in life or social media. He was never distracted, and never strayed from who he was.
No player in the history of sports has shied away from the spotlight like Duncan. The consummate professional was always about his life on the court, not off of it. The constantly soft-spoken, always humble Duncan just isn’t someone who will ever succumb to the bright lights of stardom.
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That’s one of the many things that make Duncan a once in a lifetime athlete. There are very few, if any, athletes who would turn down a chance to travel in style while simultaneously making headlines. Duncan would never stop being the quiet boy from St. Croix.
Not even for the President of the United States.