San Antonio Spurs superstar Tim Duncan will retire from the NBA, the team announced Monday. The stalwart forward is a five-time NBA champion, two-time league MVP, and 19-year veteran, all with San Antonio. His Spurs were eliminated from the playoffs by the Oklahoma City Thunder in May, which sparked much speculation as to whether NBA fans had seen the last game of Duncan's career.
Though Los Angeles Lakers guard Kobe Bryant's in-season retirement announcement and ensuing farewell tour dominated much of the goodbye talk this season, the possibility of Duncan hanging 'em up always loomed. He turned 40 in April, and while the Spurs have been among the league's best teams for the better part of two decades, their ousting at the hands of the Thunder underscored their precarious place among the league's younger, faster, newer teams. Though he's been nothing but brilliant even in the twilight of his career, Duncan struggled in this year's playoffs.
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