Tim Duncan, a defensive juggernaut, never won a DPOY award, but what’s surprising is, he never even made the top-2.
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Tim Duncan is one of the greatest players in the history of basketball. Arguably the greatest power forward ever. After getting picked up as 1st overall in the 1997 Draft he served Greg Popovic-led San Antonio Spurs for 19 seasons winning almost everything, there is, in the NBA.
He led the Spurs to 5 Championships in 3-different decades. Although he delivered everywhere on the court having averaged 19 points, 10.8 rebounds, and 3 assists a game, “The Big Fundamentals” defensive prowess was just impeccable.
Duncan was an enigma who made everyone on his team better defensively. A 15-time NBA All-Defensive teams selection, he was the anchor on all the Spurs teams throughout his long career. But having the most appearances in NBA’s prestigious teams/lists for best defenders, couldn’t win him a DPOY.
Tim Duncan never even finished 2nd on the Defensive Player of the Year list
The 6’11 forward/center averaged over 2.2 blocks throughout his career, which was well over 3 blocks per game through his first 7 seasons. He was an All-Defensive First team member in 6 of those 7 seasons, but never even went past the 3rd spot on DPOY rankings. Thanks to a Redditor for getting our attention to it.
Timmy led the Spurs to be the league’s top-3 defense in 15 out of 19 times (5th, 8th, 10th, and 11th the remaining times), not winning the ultimate defensive award is a loss for the award itself and the NBA. It’s not a dent on his career, but only on the league, and its process of selection for the top awards of the season.
Maybe if the man talked more like Kevin Garnett or had the aura of Dikembe Mutombo or Ben Wallace, it would have been a different story. But Timmy never bothered to be anything apart from himself, and that’s what makes him one of a kind.
