NEW YORK — Tim Duncan didn't expect to be participating in yet another midseason classic at age 38, after 17 1/2 years and nearly 54,000 total pro minutes in his illustrous career. But the San Antonio Spurs legend is here for the 2015 NBA All-Star Game, voted to a reserve frontcourt slot on the Western Conference squad, and this visit to New York could wind up serving as something of a surprising trip back to the future for the 15-time All-Star.
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After New Orleans Pelicans power forward Anthony Davis announced Wednesday that he would bow out of the All-Star game with a right shoulder sprain, NBA Commissioner Adam Silver appointed Dallas Mavericks power forward Dirk Nowitzki to replace Davis on the Western roster. But while it's the commissioner's duty to appoint injury replacements to All-Star rosters, when the injured player in question is a starter — as Davis was, thanks to the fan vote — it's the coach's responsibility to pick someone to take his place in the starting five. Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr, who will lead the West at Madison Square Garden on Sunday night, says he hadn't yet finalized his starting lineup, but he did raise the prospect of calling the familiar No. 21 of his former San Antonio teammate one last time.
"I have to talk to all the guys to see how much they want to play," Kerr told reporters during Friday's All-Star media session. "I'm assuming Timmy and Dirk aren't going to want to play big minutes. But my guess is we'll start either [Kevin] Durant or [LaMarcus] Aldridge. But maybe we would start Tim Duncan and play him five minutes and he can put ice on his knees and take the rest of the night off. I don't know."
If Kerr did select Duncan, it would mark the 13th time in his 15 All-Star trips that he's been part of the West's starting five. Fans voted him into the starting lineup every year from 2000 through 2010; in 2011, Spurs and Western Conference coach Gregg Popovich moved Duncan from the bench into the starting lineup to replace injured Houston Rockets center Yao Ming. Six-time All-Star Durant has started for the West for the past four seasons, while Aldridge, making his fourth All-Star appearance (and his fourth straight), has never started.
Despite having never earned that particular honor, Aldridge said Friday he didn't plan to press Kerr for the gig.
"No. If he wants to start me, he starts [me]," Aldridge said. "I'm not going to campaign."
It's unclear whether Durant will — he seems to be fighting bigger battles related to players getting the chance to vote on year-end awards — but it seems safe to say that Duncan won't be doing much cajoling, either.
“I didn’t expect to be here, honestly,” Duncan said Friday, according to Jeff McDonald of the San Antonio Express-News. “It’s an honor to be here, especially selected by the coaches. It feels good to know they feel like I’m still playing at that level and still helping my team win games at this point in my career.”
He's certainly got the respect of his NBA peers and coaches, none of whom are likely to undersell just how impressive it is for Duncan to be averaging 14.5 points, 9.9 rebounds, 2.9 assists, 1.9 blocks and a steal in 30 minutes per game at age 38 ... especially because, you know, nobody else in NBA history has been this productive at that age.
So while Duncan might never have had the flash and panache of some of his more luminous All-Star contemporaries, he'll always get that level of respect — including from the guy who's still got one more starting lineup slot to fill.
"Everybody that I hear on TV, they always say Tim is a top-five player of all time," Kerr said. "But he doesn't have the same sort of reputation, I guess, as Magic [Johnson] or Michael [Jordan] or Larry [Bird], because he's so low-key. The charisma that those guys had and all the endorsements and everything else made them sort of global icons. Tim prefers to go about his business and play hoop."
He'll definitely go about that business on Sunday. All that remains to be seen is what time he goes on the clock.
2015 NBA All-Star Game coverage from Yahoo Sports:
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Dan Devine is an editor for Ball Don't Lie on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at devine@yahoo-inc.com or follow him on Twitter!
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