Staying Tower

By MARK HEISLER

May 24, 2001 12 AM PT

TIMES STAFF WRITER

SAN ANTONIO —

Still waters run deep, but in this case, they almost ran all the way to Orlando.

You might think this is a difficult time for the Spurs, but it’s a catered picnic compared to a year ago in San Antonio, when Tim Duncan sat out the playoffs because of a knee injury and a local columnist accused him of malingering while the Phoenix Suns knocked them off in the first round.

That was a warmup for the anguish that awaited in August, when Duncan became a free agent. The Magic sent him first-class air fare for four . . . had a specially hired “recruiting coordinator” pick him up on the tarmac in a limo along with the Grant Hill party arriving from Detroit . . . drove them past billboards begging them to come . . . stopped by a golf course where they met local resident Tiger Woods . . . took them to a welcoming ceremony at the team’s lavish facility with refreshments (Whoppers with cheese for Duncan, hurriedly sent for when team officials learned at the last moment he didn’t like cold cuts) . . . gave them jerseys with “Duncan” and “Hill” on them . . . put them up in posh suites at a Disney World hotel . . . the whole 9,000 yards.

Back in San Antonio, the Spurs, who assumed they had home-court advantage, got word that Duncan, who had planned to visit for two days, was extending his stay.

Now Duncan’s old friends at home began contemplating a future without him, as in: What future?

Says David Robinson, laughing: “The season would have been a lot more difficult, I tell you what.”

Says Steve Kerr: “Basically, we knew that if he left, this situation here was over. Yeah, we still would have had a decent team, but they would have had to start over and start fresh.”

That would have been fresh as in without Kerr and the other role players over 30, such as Avery Johnson and Sean Elliott, with Robinson asking himself why he would want to try to carry a team again at 35.

Barely a year after winning a title, Gregg Popovich, the coach and general manager, would have had to dismember what was left, a prospect so grisly, he still winces when someone asks about it.

“That’s ancient history,” Popovich says. “That’s got absolutely nothing to do with anything.”

What’s wrong with history, since Popovich is known to be a big reader of it?

“Well, that’s not history,” he says. “That’s sports.”

Nevertheless, those were dark days for Popovich. Spur staffers told the San Antonio Express-News’ Johnny Ludden their boss looked lower than they’d ever seen him. A member of Popovich’s family compared him to the living dead.

Nor was their nightmare over.

Upon Duncan’s return, he met with Popovich, without giving him any reassurance whatsoever. Instead of their old camaraderie, Duncan coolly asked a series of questions--Where was the team going? How did they intend to get there?--as if they had never met, never cracking so much as a grin.

Meanwhile, on the Big Island . . .

That’s the one in Hawaii, where Robinson and his family had just arrived at their vacation home.

Robinson likes to get far away and was pointedly not following the negotiations. Imagine his delight when he called Duncan to say hello and learned his fellow Twin Tower now didn’t know what he wanted to do.

“Actually, I wasn’t even checking in,” Robinson says. “To be honest with you, I was just calling to say hi, to talk to him. I mean, I wasn’t really following it. It was very much a surprise to me. . . .

“I said, ‘Hey, Tim, what’s up, what you doing?’ Just as a friend. I hadn’t talked to him in a couple weeks. I don’t really read the paper much out there. I don’t pay much attention to all the stuff that’s going on. I was a little bit surprised.

“He didn’t say he was leaning the other way--but he voiced a lot of his concerns, you know, the future and all that stuff.

“I said, ‘Hey, the future is now! People can talk about the future forever! A lot of teams out there are talking about the future--and ain’t got no future! The future is right now! You look at what we’ve got!’ ”

Not that Robinson was alarmed or anything, but he got off the phone and caught a plane back for the mainland the same day.

He and Duncan got together the next day and talked. Duncan had a lot of questions--the Spurs were getting older, there was a question of how long Robinson would play--and Robinson had a lot of answers.

Within days, Duncan told the Magic he was staying in San Antonio, although he insists there was more to it than talking to Robinson.

“It was very important, yeah,” Duncan says. “I don’t think it was the deciding factor, as everybody seems to make it out to be. It was very important, just to talk to him face-to-face and put down what I was thinking and bounce some things off of him.”

Of course, Duncan and his agent, Lon Babby, informed Magic officials first. Before the Spurs knew a thing, the story had broken out of Orlando, where a crestfallen Coach Doc Rivers told people they were out of it.

The next day, with headlines blaring the news that Duncan was staying, but without official confirmation from anyone, Duncan and Babby met with Popovich.

“Pop,” Duncan said, according to the Express-News, “I’m going to Orlando.”

Popovich sat there, staring blankly in front of him . . . until Duncan, the big joker, told him it was all in fun.

Said Popovich: “I need a drink.”

So, if it’s true that what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger, it shouldn’t be a surprise that the Spurs finished with the league’s best record at 58-24.

They brought in one young star, Derek Anderson, and saw another young player, Antonio Daniels, make great strides. Robinson promises to stay around, so their future is assured. Yes, they might have a Laker Problem, but so might everyone else.

It’s not as if Duncan makes giant strides from season to season, because he was so good upon arrival.

“When I got here, he was in his second year and it seemed to me, he was in his 10th,” Kerr says. “It was just stunning how developed he was, especially given the trend in the league these days. Most young players don’t come in anywhere near prepared fundamentally, especially post players. The footwork, the hands. He had all that right from the beginning. . . .

“He’s never been a guy who really enjoys the limelight, but he’s probably more comfortable with it now. He’s always been a really funny guy behind the scenes. He rarely shares his sense of humor with the media, but in the locker room, he’s hysterical. I think maybe he’s opening up a little but more to the outside.”

Duncan has loosened up around the San Antonio regulars, although the sight of a finals-size media pack, bristling with minicams and mikes, can drive his personality back where it came from in a hurry.

Now, however, he doesn’t sigh and roll his eyes when he has to do mass interviews, so we’re making progress.

“You get used to it,” Duncan says. “You learn how to do it. It’s part of the job, so you get it done and go home.”

As for being a national celebrity?

He raises his eyebrows, as if in surprise.

“You don’t feel like one?” someone asks.

“I don’t feel or not feel like one,” he says. “It doesn’t matter to me. I just go home, play with my dogs.”

Popovich can tell you from experience, both bitter and sweet, this is one extremely cool customer.

“It helps him on the floor because he doesn’t get rattled,” Kerr says. “He just goes out and takes care of his business and moves on. He never seems to get too high or too emotional. Never seems to get too low.

“He did have the free-throw shooting problems earlier in the season which he battled through and corrected. But even through that, it was hard to tell that anything was wrong. He’s one of those guys who doesn’t let his emotions show.”

Because this ended so well, Duncan is asked if he ever shudders at the thought of having made the other decision.

“No,” he says, matter of factly, “it would have been great.”

Actually, he says, the whole thing wasn’t that much fun for him, either, with everyone hanging on his every facial expression, knowing he had to disappoint someone.

All concerned are happy it’s over. Of course, as Duncan notes, he can opt out of his new contract in two seasons. Robinson will be 39 by then, but Duncan has bought land in the area to build a home, so who knows what will happen?

Modern basketball, it may not add up to history but it sure can wear you out.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

Thinking Big

Statistics for San Antonio’s Tim Duncan and Lakers’ Shaquille O’Neal in . . .

WESTERN CONFERENCE FINALS

*--*

DUNCAN O’NEAL Points 34.0 23.5 Rebounds 14.5 12.5 Assists 4.0 3.0 Blocks 0.5 1.5 Turnovers 1.5 4.0 Field-Goal Pct. .556 .442 Free-Throw Pct. .850 .643

*--*

SPURS-LAKERS, REGULAR SEASON

*--*

DUNCAN O’NEAL Points 24.2 26.0 Rebounds 11.8 14.0 Assists 3.2 3.2 Blocks 0.5 2.3 Turnovers 2.2 3.5 Field-Goal Pct. .437 .539 Free-Throw Pct. .500 .468

*--*

ALL GAMES IN 2000-01

*--*

DUNCAN O’NEAL Games 93 81 Points 22.7 29.5 Rebounds 12.5 13.3 Assists 3.1 3.7 Blocks 2.4 2.8 Turnovers 3.1 3.1 Field-Goal Pct. .500 .566 Free-Throw Pct. .624 .517

*--*

TEAM’S CHAMPIONSHIP SEASON

*--*

DUNCAN O’NEAL Season 1999 ‘99-’00 Points 22.1 29.9 Rebounds 11.6 14.1 Assists 2.5 3.6 Blocks 2.6 2.9 Turnovers 3.0 2.7 Field-Goal Pct. .499 .572 Free-Throw Pct. .707 .506

*--*

Staying Tower

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