19 years ago after the Spurs swept the Cavaliers, Tim Duncan tells a young LeBron James “This is gonna be your league in a little while… but I appreciate you giving us this year.”
Top 1 All Time Unc
The top ten list is actually all just Tim Duncan
cant spell duncan without unc
Bahahaha
Who are the top 5 uncs of all time. Think about it. 1. Duncan 2. Duncan 3. Duncan 4. Duncan 5. Duncan
He spits hot fire
I rip and I rhyme, I rhyme and I rip, this is the way Dylan spits!
We can either win this ring, or not win this ring.
You’re too close mon!
You can’t just choke all your problems!
Frank Herbert in Dune:
Can’t spell Duncan without Unc.
can’t spell Duncan without unc
Tim Uncan
I need Tim Duncan, David Robinson, and LeBron’s faces on the hand on shoulder meme.
[removed]
AI can’t even begin to understand LeBron’s hairline
Just received word that Lake Erie got drained in the process of it even trying.
Lmao… it’s just said f it and put a hat on him
He said that in 2007, then said again in 2014…
Dont think ive ever seen this clip, cool
Same. Good feels. What an era.
I had all the spurs championship DVDs (yes those old things)
I played this one clip 100x as a kid 😄
Are they uploaded on YouTube?
Lemme put you on game real quick:
https://filmot.com/search/%22gonna%20be%20your%20league%20in%20a%20little%20while%22⁄1?gridView=1&hideDeleted=1
Not seeing anything that looks like the og source material, though.
Yeah, theyre getting copyrighted by NBA sadly.
High seas it is then
Hey, I still have my Sports Illustrated Championship VHS from the Niners’ Super Bowl in 1995
… the fuck’s a VHS?
That’s from back when we had to bang two rocks together and turn a crank to watch a movie in glorious 240p
What the FUCK is the internet?
A lot more fun to see this than the hateful old guard who didn’t even shake hands after losing a series.
I don’t think we should teach kids to idolize athletes in general and follow them blindly, but Sportsmanship is something they should pick up from watching their favorite players
When was that? Everybody always hated people who didn’t shake hands after the series. The Pistons walked off the floor without shaking hands when Jordan’s Bulls beat them and it was a huge story.
It was everywhere during the 2013⁄2014 finals lol
we’re old bro
Grand-unc
What do you mean? 2014 was just a few years ago.
Right guys?
someone told me something about 2009 and i was like, that wasnt too long ago. then it hit me
This sub keeps aging me, this was at the top of r/NBA multiple times a decade ago lol
I think this clip was after the 2007 finals, no?
And it was replayed a lot when the same people met in the finals
It is
Looks like the edited version, I’m pretty sure they kissed, RELEASE THE TAPES!
LeEpstein Files
Timmy is awesome
I don’t think there is a soul on this planet that dislikes Tim or Chuck. It’s just impossible.
I can think of one Joey Crawford
That is still one of the wildest fucking ejections I’ve ever seen in my life.
Cause it was. Joey was just that much of an egotistical bastard
Reddit would go CRAZY if a current ref did that to Wemby lol
I’d flip if I saw that happen to anyone
Everyone knows you’re not allowed to laugh on the bench smh
nah Joey actually credits the situation with turning around his career as he thought he was going to get fired for his antics. He instead saw a psychiatrist (mandated by Stern) and learned to control his anger, which led to him having 10 more years in the league.
I think there’s a lot of women in San Antonio who aren’t too fond of Chuck
I donno that guy chuck threw out the window might have some words about it
Sounds like Chuck gave him some minor injuries but one hell of a story.
This sub flips hard on chuck every time he says something mean about the current game.
It’s just annoying how he openly admits to not watching it
Can you think of any analysts for the NFL, NHL, MLB, etc. that openly state they don’t watch games?
i mean i agree but i at least appreciate the honesty. tons of them dont openly admit it but they clearly dont watch much
But if someone’s telling me they didn’t read a book or watch a movie, why is their review relevant? Even if they used to be an author or director. They have no idea what they’re speaking on.
KG would like a word. Plenty of people hated Timmy when he was playing.
KG hated him because he WASN’T mean.
Who was that one player trying to trash talk Duncan and instead of talking trash back, Timmy taught him some moves or something? LMAO that story will always be funny to me
Demarcus Cousins
really took the anger wind out of his brat sails
this was basically everyone who talked trash to Timmy D, but yeah you’re thinking of Boogie like wurst_law said
there was a journeyman big back in the day who basically said duncan taught him how to play in the post while playing against him i forget his name, he had substance abuse problems later in life, white guy
KG hated him because he couldn’t get under Timmy’s skin. He was the one player he couldnt piss off, and that in turn pissed him off.
“Nice try” lmao
Ask the big ol’ women of SA what they think.
I had a boss who hated The Big Fundamental. I never understood why other than jealousy
People understand flamboyant showboats, but they fear unrelenting silent domination
I’m not a basketball girlie and only watch when I happen to be with my brothers or similar who are watching the game. Someone back in the day said, in what I now understand was a joke, that Tim Duncan was a notorious homophobe, and this became one of the Basketball Facts that I knew. So for like a decade I would see things about Tim Duncan and I would be like, “dammit, I wish he wasn’t homophobic, he seems so nice on the outside!” Finally I asked my brother about it and he laughed at me and I discovered I had been, basically, pranked by someone who probably didn’t know they were pranking me at all.
eh chuck had fistfights with fans etc
he‘s a cool dude tho
But I haven‘t heard a single bad thing about Tim duncan ever he belongs in his own sentence
Stays humble with a young LeBron after a sweep. And then probably went home and enjoyed a nice ham and cheese sandwich. Even better because they had a BOGO on ham at the store.
The greatest thing about Timmy is his origin story. He wanted to be an Olympic swimmer like his older sisters but a hurricane destroyed the only Olympic sized pool on his Island so his swim team started practicing in the ocean BUT Tim was/is afraid of sharks so he went out for the basketball team instead.
I always remembered this video for Duncan’s joke at the end too, but Bill Simmons referenced this clip a few weeks ago and made a great point. Of all the things Duncan could’ve complimented LeBron on for his approach to basketball, he chose to point out the way that Bron treats his teammates. Says a lot about how Timmy saw the game and how you succeed in it.
Lebron post 2007 made the finals 10 times and I honestly don’t know if he made a single teammate worse along the way. I think he genuinely might have listened to Duncan even if only subconsciously.
So many guys got bigger contracts cause LeBron made their minutes look so valuable.
Bron’s been the ultimate bag getter for literally everyone around him
A rising Bron lifts all boats
LeTide
*LeBoats
Getting pulled up by Lebootstraps
LeNoah
LeBron should go back to format next year, sign with the Raiders and see if he cna get Kirk Cousins to sign for $56 Billion in 28.
Timofey Mozgov’s great grandchildren will be thanking LeBron
Larry Bird refused to trade for any LeBron teammates bc of that reason
He’s like the godfather of Mozgov money
Timmy saw it in him. It’s not so much as listening to Duncan, but Duncan seeing that Bron carried himself the right way within the team and pulled the best out of everyone
Yeah, from the moment Lebron stepped into the league he already understood that this is a team-game first and foremost even if he also understood that he would have to play a big role within that framework.
Theres a lot of things i dont like lebron. But i would take him 100x over shaq jordan kobe wilt bird or kareem as teammate
https://www.reddit.com/r/nba/comments/thtnjz/larry_bird_refusing_to_trade_for_lebrons/
While serving as the President of Basketball Operations for the Indiana Pacers, Bird refused to trade for LeBron James’ early Cleveland Cavaliers teammates because he knew LeBron made them look much better than they actually were. Bird famously explained to his former general manager, David Morway, when they were discussing players like J.J. Hickson:“I ain’t takin’ any of them f—— guys. You don’t understand, son, them guys who play with LeBron James look a whole lot better than what they really are.”
Mozgov laughing his way to the bank before cruising around LA
love, bosh, and westbrook maybe lol
Bron and Tim are definitely similar types of leaders. There’s a lot of guys who demand excellence out of their teammates and would get pissed when they messed up. LeBron and Duncan don’t demand excellence, they command it. They get their teammates to perform by getting them to want to perform and by putting them in the best positions to succeed and it’s a skill that’s hard for most players.
We are a week away from Wemby saying that to Pacome Dadiet
Frank Ntilikina walked so we could have this moment.
Kevin Knox ran
And was never fast enough
What Kentucky does to a mf
and stepped out of bounds with his big feet
Ronny Turiaf erasure
Ronny crawled out of his burrow after the meteor fell so Kevin Seraphim could evolve.
Mudiay was your future
Kadeem The Dream
we are 19 years away from lebron(4th cavs run) saying that to duncan (tim’s grandson)
Subscribe, put me in this timeline. Dadiet being Bron and also having Wemby would mean some of the most engaging, fun, and tense olympics for gold in 28, 32, 36.
Saying it to himself in the mirror
“Good job buddy” 😂 That’s TD for ya
As we later learned from KG, he may have actually been talking shit in the most Tim Duncan way here
“Nice try”
“Almost”
Gotchu
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GM-e46xdcUo
Can’t believe he got savage like that with young Lebron, vicious by his standards.
Z-bo tells a story about Duncan encouraging him to push off before going up for a layup, then Duncan applauded him after he dislodged TD in the post and scored. Uncs remember how vital that was to Z-bo.
i want to hear more big guys in the 2000s playing against tim duncan . beyond KG and this interaction. would be hillarious
I’ve seen this clip a hundred times never heard the ‘buddy’ until now.
Thats rough buddy
The Big Fundamental
love that LeBron was able to laugh at it too. no ego or attitude after getting swept in the finals
What ego? 20 y/o LeBron single handedly carried the worst team in the league to the NBA finals. Most teams still can’t even make it that far, even with superteams.
No one expected the Cavs to beat that juggernaut Spurs in Finals. It was young LeBron vs the entire Spurs dynasty team. But everyone in the league knew LeBron’s already the best in the world. Duncan wasn’t really joking here
Throwback to HeyLarryHughesPleaseStopTakingSoManyBadShots.com
God I miss the old internet.
For real - the fact that young LeBron single-handedly took down a championship-caliber Pistons squad (the same squad that defeated the Kobe-Shaq Lakers a few years earlier) is literally fucking insane
He was 20. His teammates were all borderline G-leaguers essentially
That ECF was insane lol
Cavs were so bad for so long and then LeBron single-handedly changed that.
Those series against the Celtics were always scary and it was James against over of the early superstar teams. That Celtics group was a lot of fun to watch but every fan knew he was the future.
Not that it changes your broader point but James was 22 here.
This clip is wholesome as hell.
I also fully do not believe Dunc the Unc was trying to make ‘Bron laugh, but as soon as he started, Tim’s mind went “Oh no, I inadvertently made a funny. Laugh, Tim, laugh.”
Timmy is actually known to be funny. He’s quiet and more reclusive, but you can see the glimpses of his sense of humor when he does talk
Case in point, for those who haven’t seen it yet.
https://youtu.be/4iWA1Shnn8o?si=Vb4qJmZzMhyTsDpn
Link the best one
Here, too! Always saw this as deadpan, not Duncan being a robot and only realizing when Lebron started laughing.
And he definitely laughs at the exact time as Bron in this, it’s pretty clearly a joke to me at least
That’s a tech! Love TD lol.
I knew Tim back around this time in a capacity other than basketball, and I’d agree with you. Not a shred of ego in his statements and fully uplifting someone else out of pure respect, and did this with people who weren’t prodigies like LeBron. When I first met him I waited for the act to drop, but there was no act. He really is that way. He was also a bit awkward when the attention was on him at times and I wonder if that was also a part of it.
I’m still salty as fuck about the 2013 Finals. Duncan should have been undefeated against Lebron in the Finals.
It did lit a fire following year with the most beautiful display of team basketball I’ve seen and not even Wemby Spurs can match that beauty.
I remember that spurs team making passes to where players were supposed to be before they even got there. It was fucking insane
There’s been glimpses of that returning in the last year, with Wemby’s eagle eye view and passing skills it going to be a wild ride
Yep once they get a few more years together under their belt they will reach that same level of synergy. They’re way ahead of schedule too
soccer shit
Yeah, maybe just the rose-tint of nostalgia, but I still say that Heat/Spurs finals was some of the best basketball I’ve ever seen. Both teams were so on point and Spurs looking like “Basketball the game” personified.
Talent level on the court was crazy. You’ve got 2 top 10 all time guys in Timmy and LeBron, then HOFers Allen, Tony, Manu, Wade, and Bosh. Throw in Kawhi as an elite talent though he wasn’t peak yet.
I was definitely an annoying kid cheering for my Spurs that year, chanting “Built not bought” at the super team on the other side, but with some age and perspective, it was definitely some the best competition of any sport I’ve ever seen. Nothing but respect for them now.
2013 finals is goated stuff. If I wanna watch a helluva fun finals series that one is pretty high up there. 2014 Finals is a great series to watch as well if you wanna see the closest thing to perfect team basketball.
Honestly any finals that Lebron participated in was top tier.
not even Wemby Spurs can match that beauty
The Wemby Spurs aren’t known for playing a particularly beautiful style of basketball tho? They don’t even belong in a conversation with teams similar to the 2014 Spurs
Definitely not. They are too young to be able to develop such an elite mental game. Tim Tony Manu are the winningest trio in NBA history, it took until late in their careers where it seemed like they could run on autopilot with each other
the “beautiful game” spurs greatly influenced how many teams today approach closeouts. You can see a lot of those exact same plays with the current spurs/knicks, and if you want to see an evolution of it look no further than what indiana did during their finals run last year lol.
nba teams don’t just look at a great scheme and toss their hands up, they absorb it and build on it.
Ngl, that was probably the most crushing loss I’ve seen, moreso than the 2016 GSW loss lol.
The Heat being universally hated, a very liked Spurs team choking the lead, Timmy not getting that 6-0 record
When Timmy slapped the floor after missing the tip in game 7. You could see the frustration on his face there. In a game that close?
That moment totally broke me. Only time I ever saw him do something like that in a game
i just realised you meant slap the floor lol
my mind went to the point blank uncontested bunny he missed in game 7 2006 wcf against dallas in the last second of regulation
Ray Allen… Why wasn’t TD on the floor to secure that rebound. Any who, if they won who knows if they would’ve been as motivated in 2014 and reached the finals
Great question. Or maybe bitch ass Kawhi could hit a free throw. Did I mention I’m salty?
Despite the result, pretty standard coaching move by Pop, to go small while up 3.
Yeah I am sure he was thinking let them get 2 and we have time to march down and get a basket. But the rebound took to much time off the clock and the 3 tied the game.
It just made the win in 2014 that much sweeter. Also, I think had we won in 2013 we wouldn’t have made it back in 2014. That team was on a mission to utterly annihilate anyone in their path, including the Heat
The 2014 Spurs went 7 games in the first round against the Mavs and got lucky with Serge Ibaka getting injured in the WCF. They absolutely demolished the Heat, but the 2014 Spurs get so overrated as a whole because of how they performed against a weary Miami team that realistically should have lost against the Pacers if Paul George didnt fuck Roy Hibbert’s wife and render him useless.
Paul George didnt fuck Roy Hibbert’s wife
Playoff P-nis
Duncan missing the patented hook is so brutal leaving him angry to slap the hardwood. He probably makes that shot 999⁄1000. Really bad time to have that 1⁄1000 during that moment
He shouldn’t have missed that wide open layup at the end
I’ve always admired LeBron and Duncan’s leadership styles. Lotta folks out there think you gotta be an abrasive, no prisoners, unapologetic jerk to win (like MJ and Kobe). But there are many ways to achieve success (like Magic, Russell, Curry).
Yeah this one. So many hot takes came out recently about how Wemby is “built differently” like he’s MJ/Kobe-levels competitive, when you can be level-headed while just being as competitive and good of a leader as those two without being an asshole or outwardly emotional about it. TD and Bron are two of the best at that.
Wemby is great and it’s good for the league (and for TV) that he wears his emotions on his sleeve, but it’s not that part that makes him have GOAT potential, lol.
I feel the same way about Myles Garrett and Scottie Scheffler.
Really nice to see athletes of this era proving you can prioritize family, Pokémon, and emotional regulation while also being at the peak of your sport.
Being an asshole isn’t a prerequisite to greatness. LeBron and Timmy were definitely ahead of their time.
The articulate humble version of GG lil bro.
Then 7 years later he went ahead and won another one…against LeBron James
6 years later, lebron got his revenge which is crazy how many times these guys have gone h2h in the finals
I thought Duncan was gonna kiss him for a second
it was a rather intimate moment
Kiss him the way only an unc can.
KISS CAAAAM 😏
He gave one to Dallas too when he pulled a chet
“Pulled a Chet” 😂😂
A moment lost in time, like tears in rain.
Tim Duncan is easily one of the coolest/greatest NBA players. I’m glad he’s popping up more these days on media because I feel like a lot of younger fans aren’t even familiar with his game.
I was always a big fan. It’s crazy that there’s potentially a Duncan 2.0 now on the Spurs and he’s only 22.
The LeBron documentary is going to be *chef’s kiss
Don’t get too excited… production has another decade to film before wrapping up on set.
They have to CGI Bronny so he looks younger.
I was in high school when LeBron was drafted, and it’s just fucking crazy how young he looks here.
Gonna miss this man when he’s gone, my GOAT and all-time favorite athlete.
(Yes, I’m a Raptors fan)
I mean at this point people can hate all they want but it’s kind of pointless
These are the gems I joined this subreddit for 💎
Lot of respect between these guys, Lebron was really listening to him there. Cool clip
Duncan 6’11”…LeBron looks 6’10”
Dislike Tim Duncan, challenge level: impossible.
I miss Tim Duncan. He was awesome for the league.
And giving us 2014 too :)
But ngl, it’s such a wholesome clip where it shows how special that ear truly was too
He went on to beat him again in the finals 7 years later
Reminds me of the time Timmy coached up an opposing player. https://www.cbssports.com/nba/news/etan-thomas-shares-amazing-tim-duncan-story-on-facebook/
“I love how you are with your teammates. You’re gonna drive these guys.” About that…
Take advice from your predecessor Wemby please lol
That’s the trash talk KG told us about lmfao
I hope people never forget how good Timmy was. Arguably the best 4 in history.
I remember this clip from watching the 2007 championship dvd over and over.
This is going in the Bron documentary
People really think Kobe better than this man and it’s crazy to me
Kind of miss when athletes were classy
“Ooo, nice move, almost”
Timmy is one of the good ones
so dope they played each other again