SAN ANTONIO (AP)Hindi pa tapos ang panahon ni Tim Duncan.
Inihayag kahapon ng San Antonio Spurs na muli nilang pinalagda si Duncan para pabalikin ang 36anyos na forward sa kanyang halos ika-16 season. Hindi pa ipinabatid ang termino bagamat pinagbasehan ng Yahoo Sports sa isang ‘di nagpakilalang source na nagtataglay ito ng three-year, $36 million deal.
Ang first overall pick noong 1997 draft, pinamunuan ni Duncan sa 15 seasons ang Spurs sa siyam na division titles at playoffs kada taon, kasama na ang apat na NBA championships. Taglay ng Spurs ang 830-352 sa regular season sa kasagsagan ng kanyang tenure, ang pinakamataas na winning percentage sa kahit 15-year span sa kasaysayan ng NBA, bukod pa na si Duncan ay may dalawang league MVP awards kasama na ang tatlong NBA Finals MVP honors.
‘’Tim Duncan has established himself as one of the best players in NBA history,’’ pagmamalaki ni coach Gregg Popovich. ‘’He is an unselfish superstar who loves to compete and has only one goal when he steps on the court to do whatever it takes to help his team win. We are all thrilled that he’ll spend his entire career as a San Antonio Spur.’’
Tumitipa si Duncan, ang 13-time All-Star, ng 20.3 points, 11.3 rebounds, 3.1 assists at 2.22 blocks per game sa kanyang mahabang karera.
Naeksperiyensa nito ang ilang balakid sa season na ito sanhi ng injuries at ang kanyang edad ang naging usapin kung maipagpapatuloy pa nito ang kanyang magandang career. Si Duncan ay uma-average ng 15.4 points at 9.0 rebounds upang pamunuan ang Spurs sa Southwest Division title at league best 50-16 record.
‘’I think (his health) probably had as much to do with solidifying in his mind how long he wanted to go into the future,’’ ayon kay general manager R.C. Buford. ‘’He played well throughout this whole season and he even felt better than he ever had. I think in his mind, that was what was important. We’re going to play him as long as he says he can play and then probably a couple of days longer. We’re hoping he’s going to extend us.’’
Inaasahan na ang lagdaan, lalo na at sinabi ni Duncan sa Yahoo Sports na, ‘’I’m here and I’m a Spur for life,’’ sa kanyang naging Western Conference playoff series laban sa Oklahoma City Thunder.
‘’You’re never confident that is going to happen until it’s done,’’ pahayag ni Buford. ‘’But he made it clear he wanted to be here. We laid out what our realities were and here’s how we thought we could accomplish the best team we could put around him and he said, ‘I want to be a part of it.’’’
Sa nasabing kaganapan, inihayag din ng Spurs na muling pinalagda rin nila si restricted free-agent Danny Green sa koponan.
Sinabi ni Buford na walang dapat pag-usapan hinggil sa muling paglagda ni forward Boris Diaw o kung ang 2009 second-round pick na si Nando De Colo ay sasanib sa Spurs, dahil sa may ‘’logistics involved’’ sa pagpirma sa international players. Sina De Colo at Diaw ay kapwa maglalaro France’s Olympic Team kasama si Spurs point guard Tony Parker.
Naglaro si De Colo sa huling tatlong seasons sa Valencia ng Spanish League.
Sa posibleng pagkakasama ni De Colo, inaasahang ibabalik ng Spurs ang kabuuan ng kanyang roster mula sa season na ito.
‘’I was going to announce that we traded for Steve Nash, but the Lakers beat us to it,’’ giit pa ni Buford. ‘’I think we won’t go into the season with the exact same team as we had a year ago. (But) we think there is a lot of opportunity for internal growth, especially this summer when we have our gym and our players and the opportunity to get our coaches with them.’’
Ngunit may iba pang katanungan ang Spurs patungo sa offseason. Nabigo ang Spurs sa playoffs sa Oklahoma City, makaraan ang kanilang 2-0 lead.
Naghilom na ang pinasala ni Parker sa mata sa araw na maglalaro ang France para sa Summer Olympics. Natamaan ng basag na bote ang kanyang mata na naging dahilan ng pagkakasugat ng kanyang cornea makaraan ang naging kaguluhan sa New York City night club na kinasangkutan ni Chris Brown at mga miyembro ng hip-hop star Drake’s entourage.
Ang 30-anyos na si Parker ang dalawang taong nalalabi para sa kanyang $50 million contract. Taglay nito ang average 18.3 points at careerhigh na 7.7 assists.
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