Spurs Legend Tim Duncan to Assist in Victor Wembanyama's Development
San Antonio Spurs legends Tim Duncan. Manu Ginobili, and Tony Parker are expected to be involved in the team's on-court development of highly anticipated prospect Victor Wembanyama.
BY GRANT AFSETH
San Antonio Spurs legend Tim Duncan left a major mark on the franchise during his storied 19-year career. Between winning five championships and earning two MVPs, 15 All-NBA Team nods, and 15 All-Defensive Team nods, he is undoubtedly one of the greatest players not only in franchise history but to ever play in the NBA.
The next era of Spurs basketball will be led by another big man — French phenom Victor Wembanyama — as a result of the organization the 1st overall pick in the NBA Draft Lottery. The whole NBA world has high expectations for what Wembanyama will achieve in his career, even higher than what legends like Duncan achieved in their storied careers.
According to NBA insider Marc Stein, Tim Duncan — along with Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili — will assist in Wembanyama's on-court development as the rookie adjusts to the NBA when the team is in San Antonio.
"The expectation is that he will regularly visit the team's practice facility to work with Wembanyama when the Spurs are home," Stein wrote. "'Imagine the mentors he will have,' said one admiring rival executive, referring to Manu Ginobili and Parker as well as Duncan."
While Duncan isn't expected to join the Spurs officially, he will be working with the team for the first time since he worked as an assistant coach during the 2019-20 season. Back in 2022, when discussing Duncan's coaching stint, Spurs coach Gregg Popovich made clear that he "gave up" on trying to get Duncan to coach.
"He may never go to a game the rest of his life. But he comes to practices and walks around to see the boys play. But he has no interest in coaching," Popovich said in 2022. "Yeah. I gave up. When we had him [Duncan] that one year, I gave up after a week. It shows a maturity and intelligence, unlike some of us. We just keep doing it because we love it. But he has other interests. He's not wedded to basketball. People fall in love, but basketball doesn't really love you. Your friends and family love you.
Basketball doesn't love you."
Duncan's interest in assisting Wembanyama's development shows just how special the situation is for the Spurs organization. This year's draft will mark the first time that San Antonio will have selected a top pick since Duncan was drafted in 1999. It will also mark the franchise's third No. 1 selection with David Robinson being the first in 1987.
After a 22-60 season, the Spurs are rebuilding for the future. There is great excitement for what Wembanyama can help them achieve. There is much to be learned from Duncan, including how to make an immediate impact in the NBA. He averaged a staggering 21.1 points, 11.9 rebounds, and 2.5 blocks and played all 82 games.
聖安東尼奧馬刺傳奇球星Tim Duncan、Manu Ginobili）和Tony Parker預計將協助球隊培養備受期待的新秀維克多·文班亞馬（Victor Wembanyama）的成長。
在職業生涯中，Duncan在聖安東尼奧馬刺隊留下了深刻的印記。他贏得了五個冠軍、兩次例行賽最有價值球員（MVP）、15次入選全明星陣容和15次入選最佳防守陣容，毫無疑問，他不僅是馬刺隊史上最偉大的球員之一，也是NBA歷史上最偉大的球員之一。
馬刺隊的下一個時代將由另一位大個子球員——法國天才維克多·文班亞馬領導，他是馬刺隊在NBA選秀抽籤中獲得的第一順位選秀權。整個NBA世界對文班亞馬在他的職業生涯中所取得的成就抱有很高的期望，甚至超過了像Duncan這樣的傳奇球員所取得的成就。
根據NBA內部消息人士Marc Stein的報導，Duncan將與Parker和Ginobili一起協助文班亞馬在球場上的成長，幫助這位新秀適應NBA的比賽節奏，當球隊在聖安東尼奧時，他預計會定期訪問球隊的練習設施。
「可以想像他將擁有什麼樣的導師，」一位欽佩的對手執行官說道，指的是Ginobili、Parker以及Duncan。
儘管沒有人預期Duncan會正式加入馬刺隊，但這將是他自2019-20賽季擔任助理教練以來首次與球隊合作。回顧到2022年，當談到Duncan的教練工作時，馬刺隊教練Popovich明確表示他已經「放棄」試圖讓Duncan擔任教練的想法。
「他可能不再一輩子去看比賽了。但他會來練習場觀看球員們的表現。但他對於擔任教練沒有興趣，」Popovich在2022年表示。「是的，我放棄了。我們在他（Duncan）擔任教練的那一年後，我放棄了。這顯示了他的成熟和聰明，不像我們其中一些人。我們繼續做這件事是因為我們喜歡它。但他有其他興趣。他並不依戀籃球。你的朋友和家人愛你。籃球並不愛你。」
Duncan有興趣協助文班亞馬的成長表明了這對於馬刺隊來說有多麼特殊的局面。今年的選秀將是自1999年Duncan被選中以來，聖安東尼奧首次選擇了頂級選秀權。這也將是該球隊的第三個獲得總順位第一選秀權的時刻，David Robinson在1987年首次獲得該榮譽。
在一個22勝60負的賽季之後，馬刺隊正在為未來進行重建。對於文班亞馬能夠幫助球隊實現什麼樣的成就，人們感到非常興奮。從Duncan那裡可以學到很多，包括如何在NBA中立即產生影響。他場均得到驚人的21.1分、11.9個籃板和2.5個封蓋，並且打滿了82場比賽。
https://www.si.com/nba/spurs/news/san-antonio-spurs-victor-wembanyama-development-tim-duncan-tony-parker-manu-ginobili-gregg-popovich