DUNCAN: The Man

2-time back-to-back Regular Season MVP, 3-time NBA FInals MVP, 4 NBA Championships - what more do you want from the man?

So Timmy D hit the 1,000 game milestone last night, and that made me want to contemplate his career. A Number One Overall draft pick in 1997, he quickly became The Franchise, taking the torch willingly passed to him by David Robinson. What ensued the next 11+ years is legendary stuff, making him a Hall of Fame lock.

Don't let this pleasant persona fool you - he will knock you down!

Everything about Duncan is pure awesome. He's laid back, and takes everything in stride. He's not a demanding, preening fool, who thinks he deserves everyone's homage and butt-kissing (although everyone should give it to him because he has deserved it). He's confident in what he does, and he does it well. He accepts his position as any other normal player, who doesn't demand special treatment from the coaching staff. He performs with excellence on and off the court, and leads by example. He doesn't get all up in his teammates' faces, though he has done it when required to hammer home a point. And, he wins. Plain and simple, the man wins, and wins with style. Mind you, not the style that gets his face plastered all over video clips on ESPN, but the calm, cool style that defines his very essence.

Nothing comes close to defining him better.

Trying to list and elaborate on all his on-court accomplishments can be a bit time consuming, so I'll spare everyone a complete recap on his NBA career (because a) you all already know what he's done, and b) I'm too lazy to really dig in depth). Rather, I think I'll give a little rundown in pictures of what TD means to me.

He is an encouraging teammate.

"I know you're not as good as I am, but you can at least try."

He makes his teammates better.

"I, Merlin, now give you the powers of non-sucking."

He has a cool stance at the free throw line.

Now if he would just use his quads.

He leaves players like Pau Gasol watching him drive by them.

Pau - "Dang, he got by me again! Wow, look at that ass. And nice quads, too. Too bad he doesn't use them on his free throws."

And he's basically Number One.

"Of course I'm #1. I'm the best there is."

The dude is good, and I love him. There's not too much negative you can say about him. The only thing I can think of is that he doesn't have MANU's killer instinct. But that's why we have MANU. Anyway, congratulations and props go out to my main man, Timmy D. You are definitely THE MAN.