Giannis Antetokounmpo: Ranking the NBA’s best international players ever
By Adam McGee
Tim Duncan
With a high profile college career at Wake Forest, it’s likely that many NBA fans actually forget that Tim Duncan is from the U.S. Virgin Islands, and is very much typical of the international player’s journey in terms of starting his career a long way outside the traditional pipeline for U.S. basketball.
That proved to be no barrier for Duncan, though, as he went on to enjoy one of the greatest careers in NBA history, finishing with the rare combination of a wealth of sustained success in both a team and individual context.
Duncan bridged two great Spurs teams en route to amassing five championships over the course of his career, first on close to a level footing with David Robinson, before later as the focal point of the Manu Ginobili and Tony Parker trio.
Individually, having started out by winning Rookie of the Year, Duncan went on to win two MVP awards, three Finals MVP awards, along with making each of All-Star, All- NBA, and All-Defensive Teams on a mind-boggling 15 occasions.
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That leaves Duncan as almost certainly the best player to ever play the game at his position, which is about as formidable of a legacy as any player could hope to compile.