National Basketball Association

5 best moments from Tim Duncan's jersey retirement ceremony

Updated Mar. 4, 2020 9:30 p.m. ET

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Here are the top five moments from Tim Duncan’s jersey retirement ceremony with the San Antonio Spurs Sunday night.

Dec 18, 2016; San Antonio, TX, USA; Former San Antonio Spurs power forward Tim Duncan smiles during a ceremony to retire his No. 21jersey after an NBA basketball game between the Spurs and the New Orleans Pelicans at AT&T Center. Mandatory Credit: Soobum Im-USA TODAY Sports

Tim Duncan’s jersey retirement ceremony took place Sunday night after the San Antonio Spurs’ home win over the New Orleans Pelicans, and it was well worth the wait.

With one of the 10 greatest NBA players of all time calling it a career over the summer, we’ve had plenty of time to write our odes to a five-time NBA champion who helped build the Spurs into the most stable organization in all of professional basketball.

Sunday night gave us a chance to hear similar testaments to Duncan’s greatness, only this time, they came from those closest to him, including Tony Parker, Manu Ginobili, head coach Gregg Popovich and Timmy himself.

In case you missed any of it, or in case you want to revel in the last time we’ll see Tim Duncan in the public sphere for quite some time, here are the five best moments from the night No. 21’s jersey was hoisted into the rafters at the AT&T Center.

5. Parker’s Standup

For those of you unfamiliar with the Spurs, Tony Parker is a pretty funny guy. As it turns out, his speech for Duncan was as funny as it was heartfelt.

Parker went into detail about how hard it was to play for such a demanding coach, praising Duncan for the professional way he always handled it.

“When you play for Pop, you have to be very strong mentally,” Parker said before trailing off with a smirk.

Popovich, the most woke coach in the NBA, enjoyed the barb and even gave Parker a fist bump, giving the outside world an inside look at how close these Spurs legends really are.

Parker also told the crowd about how he could tell when it was time to get Duncan the ball. Unlike most superstars, who would tell their point guard when they were wide open or verbally demand the ball, Tony said Timmy would just give him a look:

Parker’s inside stories and jokes about Pop and Duncan were amusing, but he made sure to mention Timmy’s status as a “superstar plus plus.”

You can listen to Parker’s entire speech here.

Feb 25, 2016; Salt Lake City, UT, USA; San Antonio Spurs guard Tony Parker (L) and center Tim Duncan (21) sit on the bench late in the second half against the Utah Jazz at Vivint Smart Home Arena. San Antonio won 96-78. Mandatory Credit: Russ Isabella-USA TODAY Sports

4. “Nanu”

Manu Ginobili followed Parker on the mic, on just like TP, his speech was oozing with funny inside stories and just as much heart.

The best revelation, though, came in a story about a costly mistake Ginobili made in a 2006 NBA playoff game that cost the Spurs the game. Manu was busy beating himself up and didn’t want anything to do with anyone, but Duncan was persistent.

Timmy wound up getting a hold of Ginobili and taking him out to dinner to let him know everything would be all right, but we already knew Duncan was a great leader. The best part of this whole story was the revelation that throughout their time together in San Antonio, Timmy called his friend “Nanu” rather than Manu.

Possibly a Mork & Mindy reference? It wouldn’t surprise us. You can check out Manu Ginobili’s entire speech here.

Dec 18, 2016; San Antonio, TX, USA; San Antonio Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich speaks during a ceremony after an NBA basketball game between the Spurs and the New Orleans Pelicans at AT&T Center. Mandatory Credit: Soobum Im-USA TODAY Sports

3. Carrot Cake

Is there anything more Tim Duncan than finding out Tim Duncan was obsessed with carrot cake, the most mundane cake of all cakes?

In a jersey retirement ceremony that featured music from both Fall Out Boy and the Tron theme, Gregg Popovich’s story about bringing Duncan carrot cake whenever they were on the road was the quintessential, classic Timmy.

Pop recounted how he would come to Duncan’s room when they were on the road with his star power forward’s favorite dessert, and sometimes Timmy would be napping, so the head coach would just leave it at the door.

This wasn’t the best moment of the night involving Popovich (we’ll get there in a minute), but it was certainly one of the funniest and most fitting inside stories of the ceremony.

Dec 18, 2016; San Antonio, TX, USA; Former San Antonio Spurs power forward Tim Duncan’s jersey is unveiled during a ceremony to retire his No. 21jersey after an NBA basketball game between the Spurs and the New Orleans Pelicans at AT&T Center. Mandatory Credit: Soobum Im-USA TODAY Sports

2. The Big Fundamental Himself

Tim Duncan was never the most engaging or interesting NBA star, but that’s part of what made him special. Leave it to Timmy to let someone else steal the show on his big night (again, we’ll get to that in a minute), but there’s no question that Duncan’s turn on the mic was charming in its own right.

For starters, most of what Duncan said was unscripted. He even lamented that fact, after a tribute video with his voiceover played right before he spoke, since he wasn’t sure what he was going to say outside of that:

However, Duncan did a pretty darn good job for a guy who was winging it. He said more than just “thank you,” he was actually dressed up (no tie though, of course) and he even injected a little humor in there.

Duncan also made sure to thank all of his former teammates and the amazing fans in San Antonio before turning his attention to his head coach:

It was hard for any NBA fan to avoid tearing up when Duncan’s jersey was finally unveiled in the rafters, and Timmy’s speech was perfectly fitting for the selfless and humble player/person we know him to be.

You can check out Duncan’s whole speech here.

Dec 18, 2016; San Antonio, TX, USA; Former San Antonio Spurs power forward Tim Duncan hugs head coach Gregg Popovich during a ceremony after an NBA basketball game between the Spurs and the New Orleans Pelicans at AT&T Center. Mandatory Credit: Soobum Im-USA TODAY Sports

1. Pop Look

Gregg Popovich’s time on the mic was the most heartfelt, must-watch TV of the entire evening.

He was curt and brash as ever, explaining why Duncan made such a good leader for the rest of his teammates, no matter who was on the roster:

He told a hilarious story about the time Duncan almost considered leaving the Spurs for the Orlando Magic in free agency, making Pop sweat it out as long as possible before breaking the happy news that he’d be staying:

But amidst all the funny stories and typical Pop-isms, it was the head coach’s heartfelt, emotional side that caught us by surprise and made us feel all of the feels.

At one point, Popovich got choked up looking at his former superstar player, needing to take a moment to compose himself as he teared up.

SERIOUSLY. FIND SOMEONE IN YOUR LIFE WHO LOOKS AT YOU THE SAME WAY POP LOOKS AT TIMMY:

Popovich praised Duncan, paying him the ultimate compliment to close out his speech in honor of the late Mr. and Mrs. Duncan:

And of course, no tribute speech would’ve been complete without the final hug that made it a bit dusty up in the AT&T Center

WE’RE NOT CRYING, YOU’RE CRYING.

You can check out Pop’s entire speech here.

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