Did Doc Rivers spoil Tim Duncan to the Magic?

In an alternate universe, Tim Duncan finished his career with the Orlando Magic.

Tim Duncan will go down in history as the best San Antonio Spur ever. Kawhi Leonard has a lot of work to do if he wants to catch up with Duncan. That is for sure. TD won five titles with the Spurs and recently had his jersey retired. A statue will be erected without a doubt.

But, there was a time when it seemed like he might leave for the Orlando Magic. Duncan was a free agent in the year 2000, and he was between the Magic and the Spurs. Orlando looked good at the time, because Grant Hill was still healthy. They were also poised to add Tracy McGrady in free agency.

Duncan decided to stay in San Antonio, but Bruce Bowen recently revealed an interesting tidbit.

"“One thing Gregg Popovich didn’t do was screw it up with Tim Duncan. I remember when Tim was a free agent, he was thinking about going to Orlando when Doc was there,” Bowen said. “When Tim went out to meet with Orlando, he asked, ‘can family come on the flights to some games?’ From what I understand, Doc said no, and that’s when he lost Tim Duncan”"

Here is the video of that comment via CBS.

The Magic have never won a title, and it’s hard to imagine that would be the case if Duncan had spent over ten years there. If this story is true, then Doc Rivers has a lot of explaining to do. Duncan should’ve been allowed to let anyone in the world on the team plane, even if it was a friend from high school. Special treatment happens all the time with NBA superstars, and it’s not like Timmy would’ve been bragging about it to the media.

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It’s difficult to think about Duncan in Orlando, but Rivers sounds really dumb after this. The Magic missed out on a potential dynasty, and something tells me Duncan isn’t mad about the way things played out.