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NBA FINALS: HEAT v SPURS


June 4, 2014


Tim Duncan


SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS: Practice Day

Q.  We're not looking to get rid of you yet but yesterday Charles Barkley said, you know, "I think Tim is probably going to retire if they win this year.  I thought he would retire if they won it last year."  I'm not asking you if you're going to retire but what are the factors that you would look at when you start considering something like that, whenever that's going to be?
TIM DUNCAN:  I've not come to that point yet.  I've not come to that point yet.  I don't know what that's going to come about.  I don't know when I'm going to retire, I don't know what the factors are going to be.  I don't know any of that and I don't care about any of that stuff right in now.  I'm not thinking about that in that respect.  It will happen when it happens.  I'll feel it and I'll know it and I'll call it a day.

Q.  Tim, last year at the end of Game 7 you had a shot that you missed that you probably make almost every time and I'm just wondering, you've had so much success in your career, when you do have any kind of failure is it easy to forget right away or does it last with you at all?
TIM DUNCAN:  It lasts.  I have a very good memory, especially for my misses and losses.  You keep those, you learn from them and you hope to change 'em next time.
Yeah, that stuck with me and obviously it's always in the back of my mind and every time I see anything to do with that, it pops right back in.

Q.  Tim, over the course of time, including for a good part of last year's Finals you guys had some reasonable success defending LeBron James.  Why do you think that is and what kind of challenge does he present no matter how many looks you give him?
TIM DUNCAN:  Yeah, I think first credit has to go to Kawhi, I think he's done a great job last year in The Finals and this year in the games using his length and staying in front of him.  We understand LeBron is the best player in the league and just physically he's just a monster.
So we've got to make his life as difficult as possible, keep him out of the open court, make his shots as tough as possible, keep him away from the rim.  So make him work for everything he gets.  He's going to make baskets, he's going to get things done, but just make his life as difficult as possible.

Q.  Do you feel like you guys are going into this series with a chip on your shoulder?  A lot of people counted you out and last year you were one rebound away from winning.  Do you feel like you're going into this series with a chip on your shoulder?
TIM DUNCAN:  I don't know if we're going in with a chip on our shoulder.  We're going in this trying to win a championship.  We understand what happened last year, we understand how close we got and we're disappointed in that respect but we're ecstatic that we have an opportunity top challenge that.  Series starts over again and we'll see what happens.

Q.  Tim, do you think much about your legacy and what five championships means versus four and things like that?
TIM DUNCAN:  No, not at all.

Q.  Not a little bit?
TIM DUNCAN:  Not at all.  As I said, I think there will be time for that, time to look back on that once everything is over.  For now all I'm focusing on is trying to get another one.  Doesn't matter if it's four, five, two or one before.  This is the only one that counts right now and that is this is the only one that's in my head right now.

Q.  Tim, you won four titles in your first ten seasons in the league.  I want to know what's fueled you to try to get this fifth over the last few years?  And what adjustments have you made to your body to make sure your team stays relevant?
TIM DUNCAN:  Having won that in the first couple years and having tasted that is all the fuel you need to want to get back there and to win another one.
Obviously, everyone plays every year trying to get to that one goal, and I don't think anybody comes in here thinking, hey, I just want to get through the season, everyone wants to get through a championship, having won it before, only turns that up even more.
Personally I've changed my game a whole lot as I've gotten older, our team has changed, our front office has changed our team and Pop has changed our offense a whole lot and all that.  So the credit goes to them and how they put our team together.

Q.  Tim, kind of like Chris's question, we end up talking about legacies a lot but it's usually with players.  What's your perspective with Pop and the idea that not even just a matter of getting five but just his place in coaching history may be overlooked, I think, even despite what he's done?
TIM DUNCAN:  I doubt his place in coaching history will be overlooked.  I don't think that's a question in any way.  I think he'll be just fine.
I don't think he's worried about where people place him.  His desire, just like ours, is to get another one.  His desire, just like ours‑‑ his disappointment, just like ours, is letting one slip away last year.  So we're back here again and we'll continue to build on it and hopefully walk out of here with another one.

Q.  Tim, you and Pop have been here together the whole time.  He's a completely straight shooter and in the last series you guys clashed a little bit about a play on the bench.  Is the fact that he remains a straight shooter with you, has that strengthened your relationship over the years, that he hasn't coddled you?  What has that done to your relationship that he has remained completely honest?
TIM DUNCAN:  I think it helps both of us that we can both say what we mean and neither one of us takes it personally.  That makes a work environment which you're not hiding anything from him, he's not hiding anything from you.  So it helps both of us.

Q.  Your words at the end of the Game 6 against the Thunder, seemed to fuel them.  If you could do it over again would you have that same message, that you guys will get it this time?
TIM DUNCAN:  I don't know what I said that was so bad.  Everybody keeps talking about it, I don't know what I said that was so bad, I said I wanted to win the Finals.  We're back here now and I wanted to win.  If they need to find fuel in that, so be it.

Q.  At the same time Tony and all those other guys they said they do like the Miami Heat.  They don't have any problem with them.  LeBron said he could tell by your words you don't like them.
TIM DUNCAN:  I don't know what he was talking about, but if he needs to find fuel in that, so be it.  I don't have a problem with them individually or as a team.  I respect what they've done.  Unfortunately for them we're here to try to win.

Q.  Generally speaking how fair or unfair is it when people tie a player's legacy to the number of titles that he's won?
TIM DUNCAN:  I don't know.  We've had some unbelievably great players over the years who haven't won championships and some not so great ones who have been on teams that have won championships, so it works both ways.  Some people try to use it as a credit to their careers.
But you know a great player when you see it.  You know what they've done.  You know how hard they've worked over their careers to make themselves into the player that they are.
It absolutely helps cap off a career if you win a championship but I don't think it defines you.
THE MODERATOR:  Thanks, Tim. 

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports




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