51 Tim Duncan Quotes About Success, Being Himself, Basketball & Life

motivational quotes Jan 21, 2024

Inspirational Tim Duncan quotes:

Tim Duncan is a retired professional basketball player who spent his entire 19-year NBA career with the San Antonio Spurs. He is widely known as one of the greatest power forwards in basketball history.

Duncan won five NBA championships with the San Antonio Spurs in 1999, 2003, 2005, 2007, and 2014. For 3 of those, he was named Finals MVP.

Besides his team success, Duncan also won the NBA Rookie of the Year award in 1998, the NBA MVP in 2002 and 2003, and was selected to the NBA All-Star Game 15 times.

Tim Duncan was known for his fundamentally sound playing style and his high basketball IQ.

He was extremely consistent, unselfish, and a great leader, which helped the Spurs be a dominant franchise during his tenure.

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Best Tim Duncan Quotes About Success And Winning

1. "Standing on the court and holding up that trophy – it’s so great you want to keep doing it over and over again."

2. "I believed in what I was. I didn't believe that would translate into any of the five championships. But I knew that I could affect the game."

3. "You have to adjust to what your team needs and what you're able to do."

4. "We took pride in representing where we came from, took pride in being from small places, and places all around the world and being able to come together and make ourselves into a team, into a group of guys with one goal and get that done."

5. "It always feels good to win, it’s always tough to lose."

6. "If we win, I’m happy. The rest of it is just stuff."

7. "Our motto is just to play the whole 48 minutes. We are here to play it from start to finish. Things will go up and down. We will make runs and they will make runs. But we just keep playing."

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Tim Duncan On Being Himself

8. " I enjoy jokes, smiling, and making people smile. I may be a little different, but that's OK, who wants to be normal anyway?"

9. "I don’t try to change myself to impress anybody. I’m just who I am."

10. "I'm surrounded by nothing but great people. I've been blessed with that, so really, I've got no choice but to be an all-around good person."

11. "They say I have no emotions, but I’m excited even if you can’t see it."

12. "I don't do style. I just show up for the games."

13. "I'm not serious most of the time."

14. "I'm an idiot."

15. "At this point, if I were to psychoanalyze myself, I'd have to say I am a clown, cleverly disguised as a regular person."

16. "In all seriousness, it really should be difficult for me to be too strange. After all, a great family raised me."

17. "The only nickname I've ever had is Merlin, like the magician. I don't know why."

Basketball Quotes By Tim Duncan

18. "I'm not going anywhere. You can print that wherever you want to. I'm here and I'm a Spur for life."

19. "I am going to walk away when I'm ready to walk away. Not because of a win or a loss."

20. "I'm just going to play whatever game is in front of me."

21. "I just wanted to win on the road, honestly. I don't remember the road ever being this tough."

22. "I'm not really a flashy guy anywhere else - I don't dress flashy or anything else - but I like to keep my cars nice, and I like to customize them. I can do things a little flashier and a little faster, and with a little bit more thought. This is kind of the release part of basketball."

23. "I don't know how their ranking goes or anything else, and I tell people I don't really care how the rankings go."

24. "We really have some of the best fans in the NBA, in sports in general. Here, you get a consistent base, people support. People love the Spurs, and that's special. That's not everywhere."

25. "Karl Malone used a lot of veteran stuff that I thought was cool. Charles Barkley taught me a lot when I played against him. How he would use his body or use his dribble to get people in there and all that stuff. Veteran moves."

26. "I started not enjoying myself. It wasn't fun at times. And I always said when that point comes when it's not fun anymore, then I'm done."

27. "I'm not better when I force shots. I'm going to take them as they come. They are really sagging in there, trying to take me out of the game. It's my job to find guys. I want to be aggressive and take my shots, but I can't force them."

28. "I would have loved to play against Bill Russell. He was such a force."

29. "I’m attacking the basket more. Because I’m more comfortable on the line, that’s an area I want to get to."

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Duncan Quotes On Teamwork

30. "We are unselfish and we trust each other."

31. "I know I’m the guy others will lean on."

32. "When our assists lead to baskets, that's us playing our best, and we begin knocking down shots."

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Tim Duncan Quotes About Work Ethic

33. "I’m still learning. Hopefully I can keep getting better, and not stop where I am now."

34. "Good, better, best. Never let it rest. Until your good is better and your better is best."

35. "You’ve got to stay ready, especially around here. That’s what we preach, you’ll get your opportunity whether it comes at the beginning or in the middle or in the end whenever it may be. When your time comes, you need to be ready to go because you’re going to earn your minutes."

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Quotes From Duncan On Competition

36. "Competition is great for everyone. Sports can teach you so much at an early age, including camaraderie and sportsmanship. Competition aspect is something I’ve always been big on – I always wanted to compete in something. It was swimming for many years, then I moved on to basketball. I had to find a way to channel my competitive energy, so I’m lucky that basketball worked out for me."

37. "I think competitiveness is taken in a different way by different people. I'm not a yeller and a screamer, a jumper and a pusher."

38. "I've been competitive from day one. It's in my nature. Whether people recognize that or not, I don't know how they can't. I'm not gonna go out there and try to hurt somebody or win by all means. But if it's up in the air, I'm gonna try harder than you to get it done."

Tim Duncan Quotes About Life

39. "The time when there is no one there to feel sorry for you or to cheer for you is when a player is made."

40. "I'm a loyal guy. I'm a man of my word, and I assumed other people would be that way. That's just not the case in life."

41. "I’ve never gotten too high or too low. It only messes you up."

42. "I just hope to make a difference."

43. "I don’t usually set personal goals."

44. "When I’m away from basketball, I’m the biggest kid. I do a good job of keeping myself sane. But on the other hand, I’m more of a solitary guy, glad to be left alone."

45. "I am who I am because of the people who I grew up with and where I’m from."

46. "Basketball's so much like life: if something's going great, you wait a minute, it will change. If something's going bad, you wait a minute, it will change. So I try to play things on such an even keel, knowing that things are going to change. You take the good with the bad; you don't get too excited, you don't get too down and sometimes that's the hardest thing in the world to do when you're in the midst of it, but that's the best way to handle it."

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Other Motivational Tim Duncan Quotes

47. "When you have to stop and think about things is when they go wrong."

48. "Honest truth is I didn't really know from year to year what people were making. I think that was the best perspective to have."

49. "I’m going to try to fit in where I can and play the way I can."

50. "I’m just somebody that isn’t that impressed by [Michael Jordan]. There really isn’t anybody in the world I’m impressed with."

51. "I have the loving support of my girlfriend who still attends Wake Forest and is nearing graduation. She helps me cope with the everyday rigors of being an NBA player."

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