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Tim Duncan: Key to NBA longevity 'a lot of luck'

Soobum Im / USA TODAY Sports

Any young NBA player hoping for a long and fruitful career would do well to follow the example and advice of Tim Duncan.

The lifetime San Antonio Spur is in his 19th pro season, will turn 40 in April, has played more combined regular-season and playoff games (1,586) than all but four players in history, and has never been on a team that's won fewer than 61 percent of its games. He won his first of five titles and first of three Finals MVPs before the turn of the millennium, and nearly 17 years later he remains one of the most productive big men in the league.

Duncan currently ranks seventh among all players (and first among centers) in ESPN's real plus-minus (4.94), is 12th in blocks per game (1.8), and is currently posting the best true shooting percentage (58.6) of his career. This after an age-39 season in which he cracked both the All-NBA third team and All-Defensive second team, and finished eighth in Defensive Player of the Year voting.

It's tough to glean much, though, from Duncan's revelation of what's allowed him to do what he's done for as long as he's done it.

"A lot of luck, honestly," Duncan told Yahoo Sports' Michael Lee. "Same coach. Same organization. And just lucky to stay healthy."

It's true: Duncan has never had a significant injury or missed more than 16 games in a season - a historical anomaly given the mileage on his NBA odometer. But for all his modesty in chalking that remarkable durability up to luck, he also acknowledged all the work he's put in - fine-tuning both his body and his game - to put himself in this position.

"I've had a lot of miles on my body throughout the years," he said. "But the last couple of years, I could definitely tell a difference. Based on that, my game has changed. Based on that, my preparation has changed. I had to change my diet because my metabolism changed. It's just realizing what's happening and what point in your career you're in and what your body is going to do with you."

Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich, who's been with Duncan every step of the way, has played a role in that, notably holding Duncan out of playoff action due to a knee injury in 2000, and gradually cutting his minutes as his career progresses (he's averaged fewer than 31 every year since 2009-10).

But until Duncan established the blueprint, it was rare for a superstar in his prime to be willing (and prescient) enough to concede immediate playing time for a vague long-term payoff.

"I think it's an understanding," he said. "I think people are finally starting to come around and not worried about the machismo part of it, where you just want to be out there and grind it out. Bottom line is, you want your team to get to the playoffs and once that time comes, you want to be as fresh as possible."

Duncan's been walking that walk for almost two decades now. Some say it's better to be lucky than good; it's best to be both.

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