Spurs: Tim Duncan's Hall of Fame Career, from 21-1

To wrap up a jam-packed week of tributes to the San Antonio Spurs' greatest player ever (starting with this one), I got a bit creative. It's easy to find Tim Duncan's greatest accomplishments in accolade form if you simply visit his Basketball Reference or Wikipedia pages, but I wanted to share some things people might not have heard about The Big Fundamental.

To do this, I scoured the internet and my personal knowledge to count down from his famous jersey number 21 down to one, mixing in personal facts about Duncan with statistical ones. Undoubtedly, some of these will be common knowledge but nonetheless fun reminders of just how good Spurs' fans had it in his era.

With one last basketball achievement looming in the form of Hall of Fame immortalization, here's a look back at the 19-year career of Tim Duncan.

21: Tim Duncan's number, worn as a tribute to his brother-in-law

Any Spurs fan following the team between 2000 and 2015 certainly has at least a couple of number 21 jerseys in their collection. Tim's now-retired number will forever be remembered in NBA history, but not many know how he settled on that number.

As it turns out, Duncan's brother-in-law, Ricky Lowery, not only inspired Duncan to wear the number but to pursue basketball in the first place. Lowery played point guard in college, wearing the number 21 at the time. Thanks to some encouragement by Lowery and heavy recruiting by Wake Forest, Tim eventually found himself in San Antonio years later.

20: Games it took the San Antonio Spurs to clinch their fourth NBA title

When you have a tough time deciding which of your franchise's title-winning teams was best, you know you have it good as a fanbase. San Antonio won five titles from 1999-2014, with each team having special qualities of their own.

Going by sheer win percentage, the 1999 title team, going 15-2, were statistically the best playoff team the Spurs ever had, winning 88.2 percent of their games. However, that first title still involved a five-game first round. Out of all the championship runs with strictly best-of-sevens, the 2007 team stands above the rest.

The 2007 title team crushed everyone in the postseason, going 16-4 in the playoffs to capture title number four.

19: Seasons Tim Duncan played with the San Antonio Spurs

I could've gone a number of ways with this number, but the fact that Tim Duncan stayed with the Spurs for nearly two decades needs to be honored. Guys like Duncan are rare in the modern NBA, with players often seeking an easy ring by teaming up with other stars in a big market.

After his 19th season in the Alamo City, Duncan joined Kobe Bryant and John Stockton as the only players to spend at least 19 seasons with one team. Dirk Nowitzki since joined that club with the Mavericks and now holds the record for most seasons with a team with 21.

18: The Day the greatest San Antonio Spur ever had his jersey retired

On December 18, 2016, the Spurs retired Duncan's number 21 jersey in a postgame ceremony, making him the eighth Spur in franchise history to have his jersey retired. Since then, Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili have joined Tim in the rafters.

17: Consecutive seasons the Spurs won 50+ games with Tim Duncan

When it comes to winning, Tim Duncan had the kind of career guys can only dream of. Not only did he win 50 games in a record-setting 17 straight seasons, but the only reason he didn't do so for all 19 seasons was due to the 1999 season being 50 total games.

Tim also led San Antonio to the postseason in every season of his career, winning an NBA title over 25 percent of the time he did so. Straight dominance.

16: Tim Duncan's age when his legend began

I followed Tim Duncan's career closer than any other player, and still, this story snuck past me. In 1992, when Tim was just 16 years old, a tour was arranged that sent NBA players to the Virgin Islands. The goal was to raise money and awareness after an increase in violence in the area.

Alonzo Mourning, who had been selected second in the NBA Draft and was already on his way to stardom, was the biggest name in the group. As this Washington Post article details, a teenage Duncan did more than hold his own in a scrimmage game against Alonzo. Seattle SuperSonics rookie Chris King, whose agent arranged the tour, told the tale.

“He’s playing against Alonzo Mourning. He’s 16. He’s dominating this guy. He’s running the floor. He has these great hands. I was like, ‘Oh my god, this kid can play!’”

The showcase led King to tell his former coach -- then with Wake Forest -- about Duncan. The rest was history.

15: # of All-Star selections, All-NBA selections, and All-Defensive selections

These accolades are too crazy to ignore. In 19 NBA seasons, Tim Duncan had 15 All-Star appearances, 15 All-NBA selections, and 15 All-NBA Defensive selections. Of the All-NBA Teams, 10 of them were First Team, three were second, and two were first.

Tim's defensive selections broke down to eight First Teams and seven Second Teams. Duncan also shared the 2000 NBA All-Star Game MVP trophy with Shaquille O'Neal in 2000.

14: Tim Duncan delivers on his promise to Spurs fans

The 2013 NBA Finals will forever be a forbidden topic among the Spurs community, but what the team did the following season made the heartbreak well worth it. To represent 14, let's flashback to Oklahoma City after the Spurs wrapped up Game 6 to advance to the 2014 NBA Finals.

With one of his greatest quotes ever, Duncan assured the Alamo City that the team wouldn't be coming up short this time. "We're back here and we're excited about it," said Tim. "We've got four more to win. We'll do it this time." The Spurs went on to dominate the Miami Heat in one of the most lopsided NBA Finals ever.

13: Straight selections to both All-NBA and All-Defensive Teams to start career

Getting back to his individual accomplishments, Tim Duncan is the only NBA player in history to be selected to an All-NBA and All-NBA Defensive Team in each of his first 13 seasons. His 15 All-NBA Defensive Team selections remain the most of any player ever, three more than his fellow Hall of Fame inductees Kevin Garnett and Kobe Bryant.

12: Made field goals in Duncan's MVP performance in the 2000 All-Star Game

Back when All-Stars were still sporting their own uniforms in the big game (which I thoroughly enjoyed), Tim Duncan went wild, making 12 of 14 shots in the game for 24 points. His 14 boards also helped him secure a co-MVP with Shaquille O'Neal.

The MVP honor is especially impressive when you consider how loaded both rosters were that year. The West won the game 137-126.

11: The date Tim Duncan officially announced his retirement from the NBA

On July 11, 2016, Duncan officially called it quits after 19 successful seasons in San Antonio. The announcement was as quiet and sudden as you'd expect, as he waited until the offseason to share his decision. While he certainly would've received a tribute from all 29 other NBA arenas if he had announced his departure earlier, attention just wasn't his style.

10: Mr. Consistency sets a record for games with 10+ boards

Tim Duncan ended his career having played 1,392 regular-season games. Of those, he came down with 10 or more boards 877 times, which is an NBA record. Rounding out the top five are Dwight Howard (825), Karl Malone (815), Hakeem Olajuwon (790), and Kevin Garnett (767).

While the last three are all retired Hall of Famers, it's possible Howard will pass Duncan by the end of his career. The 35-year-old is averaging 8.4 rebounds per game for the 76ers this season and has already secured 31 such games this season alone. Still, it will take at least a couple more seasons for him to surpass Tim if he does.

9: Tim Duncan's rookie stats at Wake Forest

Tim Duncan's college career at Wake Forest got off to a rocky start, as he apparently caught chickenpox a week before he was expected to make his debut. According to NCAA.com, he lost 17 pounds as a result of illness and went scoreless in his first college game.

Due to the circumstances, Duncan finished his rookie season averaging 9.8 points and 9.6 rebounds per game but eventually upped those numbers to 16.5 and 12.3 by the end of his four-year career.

8: Blocks by Duncan in the clinching Game 6 of the 2003 Finals

After three quarters of the 2003 NBA Finals, it was looking like Jason Kidd and the New Jersey Nets were going to force a deciding Game 7. They held a 72-63 lead with 8:39 remaining until Duncan's supporting cast came up clutch to will the team to the title.

Tim only scored three points in the clinching quarter of the Spurs' second championship, which makes his final stats even more amazing. Duncan had arguably the greatest NBA Finals game ever, tallying 21 points, 20 rebounds, 10 assists, and eight blocks. It was the second-most blocks ever in a Finals game and gave him 32 total for the series, which is an NBA record.

What's more: there's evidence he had two blocks that weren't counted, which would have given him a quadruple-double.

7: Years between Tim's fourth and fifth NBA championship

There's perhaps no better way to define Tim Duncan's sustained excellence than by pointing out the fact that he won a title in three different video formats. Growing up a fan of the Spurs, I owned the 1999 VHS, 2003 DVD, and 2014 Blu Ray of the Spurs' corresponding championships, among others.

One impressive aspect of Duncan's titles was that he managed to win his final one seven years after his fourth and 15 years after his first. Other than Bill Russell, it's hard to find anyone with a similar amount of sustained success over such a long period.

6: Games in which Tim logged 30+ points and 20+ rebounds

In doing my research for Duncan's best stat-stuffing game every season posted this morning, I was repeatedly taken aback by some of the numbers I was seeing. 53 and 11? 36, 20, and seven? He had so many memorable games that stuffed the stat sheet that it was tough to narrow down in many cases.

Part of Tim's amazing stats were his six games logging 30 or more points and 20 or more rebounds in the same game. For the average player, that would be a career-defining game. For Tim, it was often another day at the office.

5: Total NBA titles with the San Antonio Spurs

Before Tim Duncan's arrival, the Spurs had never made it to the NBA Finals. In 19 years, he was able to lead the franchise to five. Thanks to the efforts of Tim, some first-class teammates, and a legendary coach, San Antonio now has more NBA titles than all but four teams in the league.

Of every franchise that has at least two championships, the Spurs (5-1) have fewer losses in the NBA Finals than everyone but the Chicago Bulls, who've gone 6-0. Tim was able to save his best for the Finals time and time again, resulting in a ratio of five amazing memories to one heartbreak. I'll take it.

4: # of 20-win seasons Duncan led Wake Forest to from 1994-97

Tim led the Spurs to one of the biggest turnaround seasons in NBA history. But before that, he had a similar effect on the Demon Deacons. The 1993 Wake Forest team finished just 6-16 but improved that to 21-12 after Duncan's arrival.

In his four years at Wake, they won 20 or more games every season, which included ACC titles in 1995 and 1996.

3: NBA Finals MVP awards, the most prestigious award in the game

Tim Duncan is one of five to win three or more NBA Finals MVP awards, and the rest of the list is full of all-time greats. He finished his career tied with Magic Johnson and Shaquille O'Neal and below only LeBron James (4) and Michael Jordan (6).

From 1999 through 2003, Tim was league MVP twice and NBA Finals MVP three times.

2: NBA season MVPs (2002 & 2003)

There's no doubt Tim Duncan was the best player on the planet for a stretch in the early 2000s. In 2002, Duncan played all 82 games and averaged 25.5 points, 12.7 rebounds, 3.7 assists, and 2.5 blocks. The following season, he showed up in 81 games, averaged 23.3, 12.9, 3.9, and 2.9, and then led the Spurs to their second title.

The result was three MVP awards in two years, which was just the start of his illustrious hardware collection.

1: Most wins with one team in NBA history (1,001)

I probably could've made most of this list with numbers about Tim's ability to win, but that would've been repetitive. For those, his official milestone page on NBA.com is worth a visit. Instead, I saved his best for last.

Duncan retired with 1,001 wins with the Spurs, which remains the most of any player with one team in league history. Given that all wins came under Gregg Popovich, the same number applies to the record of wins by a player/coach duo. What a career.