Will Perdue Talks Tim Duncan On Dan Patrick Show

Former San Antonio Spurs Center Will Purdue was a guest on The Dan Patrick Show on Wednesday. Perdue called to talk about Tim Duncan’s career and what he was like on and off the court.

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Perdue who is now a analyst for the Chicago Bulls played two season with San Antonio and was there when the Spurs drafted Duncan with the No. 1 overall pick. At the start of the interview, Patrick started off by asking Perdue if Duncan was boring or private. Perdue quickly responded stating “he’s definitely not boring I can promise you that much”.

Through Duncan’s 19 year career in San Antonio he was never in the news for anything other than playing basketball and helping lead San Antonio to one of the NBA’s top franchises. Perdue went on to say Duncan was more private and doesn’t look to entertain outside of his inner circle.

Patrick then went on to ask Perdue how long it took to realize that Duncan was really good. This sparked a story that Perdue mentioned when he first got to San Antonio, the training camps were in Austin. He reflects on the time when David Robinson and himself were sitting on the bus for the hour long ride to the University of Texas and speaking on Duncan, not in a bad way he stated but to make sure that he earns his keep. Knowing that Duncan was the No. 1 overall pick, Robinson stated that they were not going to hand him anything.

He then goes on and describes the clothes that Duncan was wearing back in 1997 which pretty much summed up how he dressed to this day. He was wearing his shorts backwards, did not say much. Perdue got a laugh from Patrick as he stated you just wanted to go up to Duncan to wave your hand in front of his face and ask “is anything registering in there”. That is the type of person Duncan was. He kept to himself. We all saw this first hand if you were a follower of the Spurs.

He then remembered turning to Robinson after about four practices-stating back then there were two-a-days-realizing they are going to be okay with Duncan, “this guy is good”.

The questions then turned to off the court and the type of guy that Duncan was. First word Perdue used to describe Duncan was ‘prankster’. “He was a very quite guy but would be the first..to steal your underwear and put it in the freezer”.

We have also seen Duncan in action during games where he would be seen doing pranks with the ball boys at games, or even being pranked on by his own teammates. Manu Ginobili and Tony Parker after a huddle got Duncan pretty good. Ginobili before Duncan sat down in his seat placed a cup underneath Duncan as he was crouching down, landing on the cup. The reaction from the three was priceless.

A remarkable career. Hearing the stories from past and present players on the type of person Duncan from the start of his career to the very end is very satisfying. He never let money change him, nor championships. He was a humble person and a great teammate to those that were able to cross paths with him.

Perdue was left with the question of if he would rather have Kobe Bryant’s career or Duncan’s. “I’ll take either”. “Tim’s career was a lot less turbulent. Alot less drama and that is the way Timmy wanted it”. Here is his response in full.

Next: A Look At Some Of Duncan's Memorable Games