Spurs Legend Tim Duncan to Assist in Victor Wembanyama's Development
San Antonio Spurs legends Tim Duncan. Manu Ginobili, and Tony Parker are expected to be involved in the team's on-court development of highly anticipated prospect Victor Wembanyama.
BY GRANT AFSETH
San Antonio Spurs legend Tim Duncan left a major mark on the franchise during his storied 19-year career. Between winning five championships and earning two MVPs, 15 All-NBA Team nods, and 15 All-Defensive Team nods, he is undoubtedly one of the greatest players not only in franchise history but to ever play in the NBA.
The next era of Spurs basketball will be led by another big man — French phenom Victor Wembanyama — as a result of the organization the 1st overall pick in the NBA Draft Lottery. The whole NBA world has high expectations for what Wembanyama will achieve in his career, even higher than what legends like Duncan achieved in their storied careers.
According to NBA insider Marc Stein, Tim Duncan — along with Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili — will assist in Wembanyama's on-court development as the rookie adjusts to the NBA when the team is in San Antonio.
"The expectation is that he will regularly visit the team's practice facility to work with Wembanyama when the Spurs are home," Stein wrote. "'Imagine the mentors he will have,' said one admiring rival executive, referring to Manu Ginobili and Parker as well as Duncan."
While Duncan isn't expected to join the Spurs officially, he will be working with the team for the first time since he worked as an assistant coach during the 2019-20 season. Back in 2022, when discussing Duncan's coaching stint, Spurs coach Gregg Popovich made clear that he "gave up" on trying to get Duncan to coach.
"He may never go to a game the rest of his life. But he comes to practices and walks around to see the boys play. But he has no interest in coaching," Popovich said in 2022. "Yeah. I gave up. When we had him [Duncan] that one year, I gave up after a week. It shows a maturity and intelligence, unlike some of us. We just keep doing it because we love it. But he has other interests. He's not wedded to basketball. People fall in love, but basketball doesn't really love you. Your friends and family love you.
Basketball doesn't love you."
Duncan's interest in assisting Wembanyama's development shows just how special the situation is for the Spurs organization. This year's draft will mark the first time that San Antonio will have selected a top pick since Duncan was drafted in 1999. It will also mark the franchise's third No. 1 selection with David Robinson being the first in 1987.
After a 22-60 season, the Spurs are rebuilding for the future. There is great excitement for what Wembanyama can help them achieve. There is much to be learned from Duncan, including how to make an immediate impact in the NBA. He averaged a staggering 21.1 points, 11.9 rebounds, and 2.5 blocks and played all 82 games.
圣安东尼奥马刺传奇球星Tim Duncan、Manu Ginobili）和Tony Parker预计将协助球队培养备受期待的新秀维克多·文班亚马（Victor Wembanyama）的成长。
在职业生涯中，Duncan在圣安东尼奥马刺队留下了深刻的印记。他赢得了五个冠军、两次例行赛最有价值球员（MVP）、15次入选全明星阵容和15次入选最佳防守阵容，毫无疑问，他不仅是马刺队史上最伟大的球员之一，也是NBA历史上最伟大的球员之一。
马刺队的下一个时代将由另一位大个子球员——法国天才维克多·文班亚马领导，他是马刺队在NBA选秀抽签中获得的第一顺位选秀权。整个NBA世界对文班亚马在他的职业生涯中所取得的成就抱有很高的期望，甚至超过了像Duncan这样的传奇球员所取得的成就。
根据NBA内部消息人士Marc Stein的报导，Duncan将与Parker和Ginobili一起协助文班亚马在球场上的成长，帮助这位新秀适应NBA的比赛节奏，当球队在圣安东尼奥时，他预计会定期访问球队的练习设施。
“可以想像他将拥有什么样的导师，”一位钦佩的对手执行官说道，指的是Ginobili、Parker以及Duncan。
尽管没有人预期Duncan会正式加入马刺队，但这将是他自2019-20赛季担任助理教练以来首次与球队合作。回顾到2022年，当谈到Duncan的教练工作时，马刺队教练Popovich明确表示他已经“放弃”试图让Duncan担任教练的想法。
“他可能不再一辈子去看比赛了。但他会来练习场观看球员们的表现。但他对于担任教练没有兴趣，”Popovich在2022年表示。“是的，我放弃了。我们在他（Duncan）担任教练的那一年后，我放弃了。这显示了他的成熟和聪明，不像我们其中一些人。我们继续做这件事是因为我们喜欢它。但他有其他兴趣。他并不依恋篮球。你的朋友和家人爱你。篮球并不爱你。”
Duncan有兴趣协助文班亚马的成长表明了这对于马刺队来说有多么特殊的局面。今年的选秀将是自1999年Duncan被选中以来，圣安东尼奥首次选择了顶级选秀权。这也将是该球队的第三个获得总顺位第一选秀权的时刻，David Robinson在1987年首次获得该荣誉。
在一个22胜60负的赛季之后，马刺队正在为未来进行重建。对于文班亚马能够帮助球队实现什么样的成就，人们感到非常兴奋。从Duncan那里可以学到很多，包括如何在NBA中立即产生影响。他场均得到惊人的21.1分、11.9个篮板和2.5个封盖，并且打满了82场比赛。
https://www.si.com/nba/spurs/news/san-antonio-spurs-victor-wembanyama-development-tim-duncan-tony-parker-manu-ginobili-gregg-popovich