Ranking the 30 best NBA seasons from players over 35 years old
29. . PF. San Antonio Spurs. Tim Duncan. 16. player
The 30 best NBA seasons from players over 35 years old — 16. Tim Duncan, 2012-13 (36)
The San Antonio Spurs won five titles over the course of Tim Duncan’s career, but it’s the almost-titles that stand out even more. None are more painful than the 2012-13 NBA Finals, where Ray Allen hit one of the most famous shots in NBA Finals history to send Game 6 to overtime. If he misses that shot, the Spurs bring home the trophy.
That season was a transition point for the San Antonio Spurs, with Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili still running the offense but Popovich phasing in a young Kawhi Leonard as the wing stopper and future lead scorer. Even with the rotation in flux around him, Tim Duncan could be found on the block, schooling the youth of the league even at 36.
Duncan scored 17.8 points per game in 2012-13, along with 9.9 rebounds and 2.7 blocks. He shot a career-high 81.7 percent from the free-throw line on 4.3 attempts per game. For a Spurs team that increased its pace while still ranking 3rd in defensive rating, Duncan locked down the rim on one end and was the team’s second-leading scorer on the other.
Only eight other players scooped up more rebounds than Duncan, and only four had more blocks. Duncan finished sixth in PER, sixth in box plus/minus, and once again led the league in defensive rating. His minutes and usage were being managed, but even so he still demonstrated he could be prolific and impactful.
The Spurs finished 58-24, second in the West, with the league’s third-best net rating and third-best defense. Only the Miami Heat had a better effective field goal percentage than they did. After sweeping the Los Angeles Lakers, overcoming the baby-faced Steph Curry Warriors and then dropping the Memphis Grizzlies, they lost in an all-time classic 7-game series with the Miami Heat.