Duncan underrated by NBA fans

Tim Duncan is one of the greatest basketball players to ever play in the NBA. He spent four years in college, hasn’t been arrested, listens to his coach, leads his teammates and doesn’t say a bad word about anybody.

But that doesn’t seem to be good enough. Duncan has won three NBA championships since he’s been in the league, and he’s done it with three completely different rosters.

There aren’t many big men that can hang with Duncan in the crowded annals of basketball history, but still he is mocked, unloved and unappreciated. Why? Because in the age of flash and style over substance, Duncan is nothing but a boring face with a boring game – a mechanical winner who doesn’t make headlines for the wrong reason and treats his teammates and coaches with respect.

The NBA has gone so far downhill that the nice guys finish dead last. Duncan plays the game the right way and has respect for the league that pays him. He is unselfish. He is a great teammate. He leads by example and vocally if necessary. He is amenable and affable, and you never hear a word about off-the-court discretions.

Many are annoyed by Duncan. He is the too-perfect player that needs to be taken down a notch. There are 1,000 reasons to like the guy so the rebels who need to be different possess a passionate hatred for Duncan.

Now, on the verge of his fourth championship, the topic of conversation is the Spurs’ lack of marketability, starting with Duncan’s annual, ho-hum 50-plus win seasons.

Why don’t we just forget about all of the good stuff that Duncan brings to the table, huh? Yeah, forget that he’s the model citizen who just goes about his business and wins without breaking the law in the process.

Apparently, not breaking the law is way too much to ask for some of the NBA superstars, and Commissioner David Stern has been laboring over his league’s image. He has gone to great lengths to try and improve how everyone views his league-gone-wrong, including the implementation of a dress code for the players, stricter penalties for the more physical of fouls and the “NBA Cares” advertising campaign.

But here, right below his nose, is a player and a team that embodies everything that you want your league to be, and Stern is doing nthing about it. Instead, it is the LeBron James show, and Duncan and the Spurs get thrown under the bus because they just don’t have the flash.

Well, Stern needs to give them the flash. Tell the viewers why Duncan is your man and you are sticking by him.

The NBA can’t have it both ways. It can’t want the squeaky clean image without promoting someone that might not be that marketable. Stern wants the good image but he also wants the money, and it is pretty obvious which way he is leaning.

LeBron James equals marketing and money for the NBA, and Duncan equals the desirable image of a hard-working, straight-edge, selfless player.

In this year’s NBA Finals, James and Duncan will battle for NBA supremacy, and the ratings will be higher with LeBron in the championship. The kid will generate all sorts of revenue for the league and its sales, and probably help to promote the NBA’s on-the-court product.

But he shouldn’t overshadow Duncan and the Spurs, which he is most definitely doing right now.

There won’t be another Tim Duncan for a long, long time, maybe ever. He is everything that players in the NBA should be, so appreciate him while he’s around. This talk of boredom shows how unappreciated he really is.

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