Advertisement - scroll for more content
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement - scroll for more content
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
“You look at what Tim Duncan did. I’m not comparing Cameron to Tim Duncan, but he was another guy that wasn’t [athletically] a Kevin Garnett or a Tracy McGrady or a Kobe Bryant or Shaquille O’Neal. But you know what he did? He won five championships in that era [against] those players — the Kobes and the Shaqs, because of his IQ, because of his skill set, and because his team would follow him. “That is who Cameron is. He’s a modern-day version of that. People are going to follow him because of what he gives to the team and what he gives to the game. That translates into winning. So. if you want to win, you pick Cameron. And I’m going to tell you this: The GMs that don’t pick Cam, they’re going to regret that 15 years from now.”
“There are not that many guys that can be an 18-year-old on the biggest stage in college basketball like Duke basketball — [and] with what comes with that — and the entire team will follow him,” Carlos Boozer said. “You know why they do that with Cameron? Because he gives so much to the game. He gives so much to his team. Whatever it takes, he’s an unselfish superstar, and that translates to the NBA. “You look at what Tim Duncan did. I’m not comparing Cameron to Tim Duncan, but he was another guy that wasn’t [athletically] a Kevin Garnett or a Tracy McGrady or a Kobe Bryant or Shaquille O’Neal. But you know what he did? He won five championships in that era [against] those players — the Kobes and the Shaqs, because of his IQ, because of his skill set, and because his team would follow him. “That is who Cameron is. He’s a modern-day version of that. People are going to follow him because of what he gives to the team and what he gives to the game. That translates into winning. So. if you want to win, you pick Cameron. And I’m going to tell you this: The GMs that don’t pick Cam, they’re going to regret that 15 years from now.”
Spurs star Victor Wembanyama returned from a one-game absence Saturday against the Charlotte Hornets and showed off his full arsenal of skills in leading San Antonio to a 115-102 victory to close a six-game homestand at Frost Bank Center. Wembanyama poured in a game-high 32 points with 12 rebounds, eight assists, four blocks and two steals. The performance marked Wembanyama's second career outing with at least 30 points, 10 rebounds, five assists, multiple blocks and multiple steals, tying him with George Gervin for the third most such games in franchise history, according to ESPN Research. Wembanyama trails Tim Duncan (9) and David Robinson (19). "It's just a progression, in general," Wembanyama said. "There were many aspects of the game where we dominated them, and that shows because we won three out of four quarters."
How much longer do you want to play? Brook Lopez: I always had a number of 20 years. A lot of great players played 20 years [whom] I looked up to. Timmy [Duncan], Kobe [Bryant]. I think Ticket [Kevin Garnett] got there. That’s always been a goal of mine, but I feel great. So now that we’re as far along as we are, I don’t really want to put a cap on it. Just see how long we can keep going until we fall.
DeMar DeRozan went 17 of 22 from the field and 5 of 5 at the free-throw line to surpass his previous season high of 37 points while passing Tim Duncan for 18th on the NBA’s all-time scoring list. “I don’t take nothing in this game for granted,” said DeRozan, 36, a six-time All-Star in his 17th NBA season. “I never would have imagined coming into the league I would be playing this long, I would have the opportunities I’ve had, I would accomplish things I have. “Me just being a fan of the game my whole entire life, it’s an honor to be in a position to accomplish any type of goal in this league. It’s crazy to be in that position and I don’t take none of this for granted. I just love playing basketball at the end of the day, and at the end of the day, you look up and things like this happen. It’s definitely cool.”
Advertisement
RC Buford: “I think it was it wasn't intentional just on France. I think it was more intentional in 1999 when 97 we get Tim Duncan. We already had David Robinson. We won our first championship in 1999 and we believed that we were going to be good for a while while those guys were going to play together. And that being the case, we needed to we were going to draft at the end of the first round. And if we were drafting at the end of the first round and we were just watching American college players, we'd be drafting a player that 25 other teams would have passed on. And so we became intentional about let's get in gyms where other people aren't and start looking for players differently than maybe the league was at the time. And it really fit the way Pop wanted to coach. He wanted to team build with a very internationally diverse group of people so that we could all learn together."
Gilbert Arenas: Manu Ginobili, did he actually fit the Spurs program right or was Pop that brilliant to understand what he had and just let him play? And these guys are fit around your style because, you know, we're all smart enough to do it because Ginobili from Argentina, he is like the number one option. So, his style fits how he played: ISO player, let's get it, pick and roll, I'm going downhill. There was no Tim Duncan he passed the ball to. There was none of that. Think about his style of play. Flashy, up and down, speed, energetic, electric. That was his style of basketball. That wasn't the Spurs style of basketball. Those shooting guards and three men, you sit your ass in the corner, you pump, fake, one, dribble shot, right? Pass and swing shot. Ginobili was a wild card, but they recognized it. Let him do him. And you have to be a smart coach to understand when you have a guy like that on your team to utilize him. And then you get your Kawhi Leonard. I mean Kawhi was the Spurs player, right? That's your typical Spurs player. Derrick White, that's the Spurs motto, right? But sometimes, hey, we need a little bit of different here.
R.C. on Pop: "Pop is recovering amazingly well from his stroke...Tim Duncan's been there everyday...Tony or Manu or visitors from other teams...they all come & spend time with Pop... It's really emotional to see how connected our group has been for so long and how they continue to show up for Pop."
Nick DePaula: Stephen Curry pulled up in the Tim Duncan Total Foamposite Maxes tonight against San Antonio
Stephen Curry pulled up in the Tim Duncan Total Foamposite Maxes tonight against San Antonio 🔥🔥🔥🔥 pic.twitter.com/dJylTEfmHS
— Nick DePaula (@NickDePaula) February 12, 2026
A longtime steward of the game, Kerr was initially reluctant to discuss the topic, knowing of the NBA’s widespread sensitivity about it. Still, as he fielded questions Tuesday, he seemed to see both sides of the argument. On one hand, tanking is bad for the game; on the other hand, drafting a top-tier star to lead your organization for at least a decade can set up a team for long-term success. “The bottom line is you kinda have to get lucky in the lottery,” Kerr said. “It’s what makes this issue so tricky, is that great players — Steph (Curry) and Tim Duncan, Wemby — they’re not only team-changing, but they’re franchise-changing, for even beyond the scope of those guys’ careers. “And so there’s only a handful of players that can do that, that are that valuable. And so teams are all clamoring for them. Sometimes, you don’t know who they are. Steph was the seventh pick. Giannis (Antetokounmpo) was the (15th) pick. So it’s not always the first couple guys, but more often than not, the first pick has an opportunity to be that guy, and that’s what creates this issue.”
Advertisement
“If we get in the mix, we always feel like we can get it done,” Curry says, speaking with The Ringer as he works his way through the memorabilia. And by “get it done,” he means win another championship, his fifth, which would place him (and costar Draymond Green) in a tier with legends like Bryant, Magic Johnson, and Tim Duncan. “Getting greedy,” Curry says with a smile. “We know what number five means in terms of who we would join, from a legacy perspective.” He concedes that this will sound “outlandish,” given his own age (37), Green’s age (35), the Warriors’ record (27-23, eighth in the West), and a recent season-ending knee injury to star forward Jimmy Butler (age 36), among other obstacles. He admits to the audacity. “I like that audacity,” he says. “The reason we got here, it hasn’t been about the money. It hasn’t been about anything other than winning, and that’s kind of the gas that’s still in the tank for what we’re trying to do now.”
Q. What's the secret to dominating on the post? Shaquille O’Neal: I think it's my fault that the game is being played the way it's played now, because when I was dominating the post, they tried to bring in centers to bring me out from the post. ‘Okay, he's good offensively. Now, let's make him play defense and let’s pick and pop.’ And then we're all products of our generation. So, I grew up watching guys that dominated the post. But you look at Nikola Jokic, he watched Dirk Nowitzki and Dirk watched Kevin Garnett and they all watched Tim Duncan; a 6-11, 7-foot player that could pop out and shoot the jumper. So it's my fault that guys are playing soft, that’s what I call it. The key to dominating the post is just making your opponent quit, bringing the force like I used to, try to elbow you in your face on purpose to see if you can handle it. So now that I know I got you going like that I got the advantage.
Will Hardy: I still have seared in my brain this this mental image of Tim Duncan in his last season in San Antonio, shooting jump hooks on the gun 45 minutes before a shoot around of game like 40 of the season. He's shooting three-foot jump hooks over the net with the gun in his last season. And then you're going, that's unbelievable, that that guy still had the want to and the awareness and the presence of mind to say like ‘this is my process and I have to practice these little bunnies to start my day.’ At that point obviously in his career, his routines were his routines. And my hope is that we can help our young players for each person build their own routines of what helps them prepare to play and prepare to win at the highest level.
“Like I said before, the hardest guy for me? People would think it was Shaq physically, but no, it was Gasol,” Milicic recalled on the “Luka i Kuzma Podcast”. “Whenever you think you have him, he somehow twists out. He always finds a way to turn on you, Pau was just tricky. I loved guarding guys with less brain, like Dwight Howard. With those guys, you know where you are. Pau was smart; he always had counter-move.” “Not to mention Tim Duncan, who was a force,” Milicic added. “I faced Dirk in a lot of situations too, and he’s just fascinating. I didn’t play much, so in situations when you’re not playing, you’re mostly relying on defense. You think, ‘Look at this lanky guy, man, there’s no way, bro,’ and just when you have him, he’s above you every single time. It’s amazing how he gets his shot off — that fadeaway is impossible to guard, bro. He and his mid-range game were impossible to defend.”