Tim Duncan doesn’t want to go out like Kobe Bryant

by | Apr 19, 2016

You can say that again.

Tim Duncan’s San Antonio Spurs are in the playoffs and one of the year’s best stories, but Kobe Bryant’s retirement extravaganza outshined Duncan and Co. at every turn this year.

While a fun spectacle for the Black Mamba, Duncan has made it pretty clear about one thing—he doesn’t intend on going out like Bryant.

Always reserved, Duncan told Jeff McDonald of the San Antonio Express-News the whole retirement tour thing is “not my deal” and “not my style.”

Of course it isn’t. Duncan seems more reserved and prone to go out on top like a guy such as Peyton Manning. Not Bryant, who exited the stage on a 17-win Los Angeles Lakers squad and didn’t exactly help put the franchise in a better position for the future. Meanwhile, Duncan allowed himself to mostly step aside to let guys like Kawhi Leonard shine and LaMarcus Aldridge come to town.

Hence Twitter being pretty adamant in its reaction to Duncan’s comments and the comparisons to Kobe’s exit.

Fox Sports captured one perspective:

Sporting News’ Adi Joseph went a tad more in-depth:

For all the globe knows, Duncan was conducting his quiet retirement tour this season alongside Bryant’s spectacle. That’d be so like Duncan, leading a 67-win team into the playoffs and a first-round dismantling of Memphis 106-74 in the opener.

Call Duncan the anti-Bryant. The Spurs look great with him and when he leaves without so much as a string of sentences, the franchise will continue to grow and contend, slotting in another contributor in his cap-space void and gunning for another title. Duncan is the Spurs and vice versa, a culture not prone for the spotlight, just titles.

Duncan won’t go out like Bryant. And if this is it, he certainly isn’t. Enjoy this ride too, folks.