San Antonio Spurs: What can past greats in the Summer League teach us about the future?

Duncan’s ‘rocky’ Summer League first impression

Walking the tightrope somewhere between urban myth and semi-truthful anecdote, lies the story of Tim Duncan‘s first appearance as a member of the San Antonio Spurs.

To claim that Duncan came into his situation with expectations right away would be an understatement. The eventual two-time Most Valuable Player was taken with the No. 1 pick in the 1997 NBA Draft for a 20-win franchise with its focus set on triple that amount.

Duncan immediately stepped up to the plate, becoming the first No. 1 pick to partake in the Rocky Mountain Revue.

To set the stage: Duncan was the furthest thing from a late bloomer. Not only was he one vote away from a unanimous Rookie of the Year award, but he was named first team All-NBA in his first season, something that hadn’t been done since Larry Bird did it in 1979-80.

That’s what makes what happened on July 27, 1997, such an interesting anecdote in history. In his first organized NBA game, Duncan would be going toe-to-toe with Greg Ostertag, a then 23-year-old center with two years of experience and an NBA Finals appearance under his belt.

As history would have it, the Jazz would dominate the Spurs to the tune of an 85-59 victory, with Ostertag’s play on Duncan being a telling explanation for it. By the end of the game, the box scores told as follows:

Ostertag: 21 points, 10 rebounds, 5 blocks, 7-of-12 (58 percent)
Duncan: 14 points, 8 rebounds, 2 blocks, 6-of-10 (60 percent)

Statistically, it doesn’t appear that Duncan was necessarily “dominated” by Ostertag, but it has become the type of story where the jury is still out.

In 2007, ESPN’s TrueHoop did a brief story on the duel, concluding that while the term “killed” was too harsh, Ostertag did get the better of the better of the future Hall of Famer.

Duncan has gone on record to discuss this game, as well as a different Summer League game in Portland, where he admits that fellow draftee Jermaine O’Neal destroyed him, and Ostertag played solid defense.

The ominous takeaway to Duncan’s Summer League debut, though, has to be the media reaction to his “slow development.”

As Salt City Hoops writer Kyle Hunt described it:

"“Duncan had come into summer league as the king of basketball, with all the potential in the world. He left with his head between his legs.”"

All told, Duncan averaged 12.8 points per game, and ranked second in the Summer League in rebounds. And best of all, it’s safe to say he never again got the short end of the stick during his “duels” with Greg Ostertag ever again.