This article has already been posted on February 16, 2018. As part of the confinement, we invite you to discover or rediscover this rather crazy anecdote about the career of Tim Duncan.
Tim Duncan, San Antonio Spurs. The two go hand in hand. Inseparable? Today, yes. In the collective spirit. One does not go without the other. But you can quickly forget the summer of 2000. The world of Gregg Popovich and the small Texas franchise, freshly titled in 1999, nearly collapsed in the first offseason of the new millennium. Because across the country, in Florida, the Orlando executives hatched a plan to make the NBA the first power.
The dream ? Associate Grant Hill and Tim Duncan under the same colors. The two “nice guys” of the championship but above all two of the best players in the world. A winger with 26 pawns, 6 rebounds and 5 assists and an inside at 23 points and 12 rebounds. Imagine what this tandem could have given against Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant in the NBA Finals. It throws, right? TD was obviously tempted. Orlando, Disney, the sun, the palm trees. The title prospects at a time when aging Spurs had just come out in the first round of the playoffs with a superstar left to rest forced by his coach. Popovich was not at ease. On the nerves in the middle of July.
« I think Tim came very close to leaving San Antonio. Gregg Popovich was walking on eggshells. He was very angry with our agent (Lon Babby) for he felt he was trying to reunite Duncan and Grant Hill in Orlando. Heard he was gonna sign there then he stayed at the last minute », Testified Malik Rose, Duncan’s ex-teammate and friend.
The story goes that David Robinson came back expressly from his vacation to convince his spiritual little brother to stay in San Antonio. In fact, another speech may have already convinced him… not to sign in Orlando. The Magic may have actually shot himself in the foot. And that, it is besides Grant Hill who entrusts it. Now a consultant for ESPN, he was the guest of The Jump. And so he threw everything out: the culprit is Doc Rivers.
Grant Hill shares how Doc Rivers derailed the arrival of Tim Duncan
Grant Hill just admitted that Doc Rivers blew the Tim Duncan signing with Orlando when he said spouses weren’t allowed on the team plane.
T-Mac is STILL sick about it after all these years pic.twitter.com/eojBGAxffs
— Mickstape (@MickstapeShow) February 15, 2018
« A member of Tim Duncan’s entourage asked if the players’ wives could travel with the team on the plane. Doc replied no. And the whole atmosphere of the meeting changed at that time. »
Tracy McGrady, another player signed by the Magic in the summer of 2000, cannot believe it. He is annoyed when he learns the end of the story. Cousin of Vince Carter was not yet a superstar before arriving in Florida. He revealed himself in his first season in Orlando. It is perhaps a whole other parallel universe that could have been created if Doc Rivers had not been so categorical during a simple dinner in the summer of 2000. Today, it is only one anecdote. Grant Hill was injured in the months following this interview and he never regained the extraordinary level that was his. The Spurs ended up drafting Tony Parker in 2001 before welcoming Manu Ginobili in 2002. Together with Tim Duncan, they revived the franchise which ended up winning four more titles. It was just fate.
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