If there was one thing that Tim Duncan was known for was his “inability” to trash talk opponents. The San Antonio Spurs legend was very quiet on the court, as he let his game do the talk, contrary to other players that need to keep talking to get under their rivals’ skin and fuel themselves.
Well, Duncan wasn’t that kind of player, which was very rare knowing the eras where he played. The 5x NBA champion recently addressed that aspect of his personality and game, revealing that he was never interested in trash-talking players since it was more effective when he kept it quiet and play well. During a recent appearance on The Ringer’s NBA Show podcast with Logan Murdock and Raja Bell, Duncan revealed arguably his biggest secret.
“It just wasn’t part of my game. It frustrates people more when you keep coming and coming and keep getting things done and no matter what they throw at you or what they do it doesn’t affect you and it actually ends up affecting them much more than it does you so that was my way, it fit with my game,” Duncan said, via Skyler Carlin of ClutchPoints.
Kevin Garnett, one of the greatest trash-talkers of all time, revealed how Duncan used to deal with his attacks. He never used big words or anything, but KG admitted that Duncan used to tell him things like “nice try” or “almost” when he failed to make a good play.
Duncan was just different and that made him the great player he was in San Antonio. No wonder Michael Jordan picked him as one of the four players that would have thrived in his era. Tim Duncan was a terrific player with a great career and one of the best personalities in NBA history.
