On Pro Basketball
By HARVEY ARATON
Tim Duncan did not sound overjoyed to be in New York for his 15th N.B.A. All-Star weekend, or maybe it was more the company he was forced to keep late Friday morning.
“I enjoy the game; all the rest of the stuff I can do without,” he said during his mandatory news media session. “I don’t like this whole situation, but it is what it is; it’s what comes with the game.”
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Right to the end, he will be stubbornly aloof. But on the New York stage for what feels like his All-Star farewell, Duncan does deserve some of the love that typically goes to the shoe-company pitchmen, even if it won’t be for a “SportsCenter” highlight.
“I can’t dunk anymore,” he lied when asked who he’d like to poster-ize Sunday.
So make it for the crisp high screen, the perfect positional defense, the timely outlet pass. The selfless likes of Tim Duncan shall not pass this way again any time soon.
A version of this article appears in print on February 15, 2015, on page SP10 of the New York edition with the headline: Five-Time Champion. Enough Said.. Order Reprints| Today’s Paper|Subscribe
