Nine years and not one, not two, but three championships separate a set of future first ballot Hall of Famers scheduled to square off Thursday in what should be a Finals for the ages - which could also be a Finals for the aged Spurs and their steady, stoic sergeant (yes, we regard him as both an officer and a gentleman). Both stars in the series have been awarded Finals MVP, as well as multiple league MVPs, scaling hoops heights matched by the One World Trade Center. At 28, LeBron James has reached the prime of his career. At 37, Tim Duncan has reached, well, a prime number and - to those who appraise age before ability - is a prime candidate for retirement.
If these are Duncan's golden years, he's been equally Au- and awe-inspiring. It's said Father Time eventually catches all, but he's had difficulty chasing down Duncan (we know which one has run more baseline-to-baseline sprints), who was named to the All-NBA First Team this season for the first time in five years. Duncan, already a Renaissance Man courtesy of a degree from Wake Forest, underwent a roundball Renaissance, recording his highest averages in points and rebounds since 2009-10. Additionally, Duncan's blocks per game were his most dating back to 2004-05. This postseason, he became the first player to ever tally 500 playoff blocks.
Now, Duncan has to come up with his biggest block ever: preventing the game's greatest presently (according to everyone except one bozo at the Boston Globe) from winning a second straight championship. The task will be more challenging than hearing Michael Douglas talk about his theory on what caused his cancer because the window of winning is closing for these Spurs; it's a porthole, compared to a bay one for the Heat. We know Duncan will crash the glass - he might crash through it, too.
No comments:
Post a Comment