Tim Duncan is without a doubt one of the greatest NBA legends. Interestingly, basketball was not his first interest, but he finally developed into a phenomenal talent. Duncan began his athletic career swimming, but his fear of sharks drove him to a $242 million basketball career.
Growing up in the United States Virgin Islands, he was surrounded by water, which influenced his interest in swimming at the age of five. He even planned to compete in the Olympics for the Virgin Islands, but his records have since been lost to history.
“I was having fun with it, and I was really good at it at the time,” he said in a video. “I used to swim anywhere from 5,000 meters to 8,000 meters a day, six days a week. I expected at some point to be in the Olympics representing the Virgin Islands.”
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However, due to Hurricane Hugo, which wreaked damage in the Caribbean and destroyed the local Olympic-sized swimming pool, his swimming career was put on pause. He moved his swims to the ocean due to a lack of a pool. But he was terrified of sharks. As a result, he gave up swimming to pursue a career in basketball.
Duncan’s mother died of breast cancer not long after deciding to pursue a basketball career. According to Sportscasting, his mother’s dream was for him to complete college, and in pursuit of a college degree, he found consolation on the court.
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He rose to prominence at the age of 16 after outplaying Alonzo Morning. Despite not winning a national championship, he left an impression at Wake Forest. During his four undergraduate seasons, he averaged 16.4 points and 12.3 rebounds, winning the 1997 John Wooden Award as Men’s Player of the Year and earning a psychology degree, according to Sportscasting. Duncan was picked first overall in the 1997 NBA Draft by the San Antonio Spurs after graduating from college, and he went on to become one of the league’s top players.
He played with the Spurs for 19 years, helped them win five championships, made more than $242 million, and will be inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame. Duncan, nicknamed “The Big Fundamental,” was one of just four players to have been selected NBA Finals MVP at least three times. He also became one of just three players in history to win at least 1,000 games.The other two are Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Robert Parrish.