The San Antonio Spurs have started off the season 3-1 with their one loss being to the Oklahoma City Thunder on opening night. This season the Spurs have a new look after bringing in LaMarcus Aldridge in free agency, so they were expected to have some struggles early on with gaining chemistry and figuring out the best way to use everybody. So far, the results have been good for San Antonio, but despite that, Tim Duncan still is unsure of exactly what his role is this season, according to Brian Mahoney of NBA.com.
The Spurs defeated the Knicks on Monday night by a score of 94-84, and Duncan had a great game as he scored 16 points and added 10 rebounds and six assists. Duncan also set the record for most wins with one team in NBA history, passing John Stockton, but even after the monster game he still isn't sure how he will fit in this season.
"I'm still trying to figure that out. I'm not really sure what it is yet, but I'm trying to figure it out," Duncan said.
With the Spurs bringing in Aldridge, and Kawhi Leonard emerging as a superstar, the older Spurs have had to take a backseat this season. The trio of Duncan, Tony Parker and Manu Ginobli used to be the three main guys on the roster, but now they are more role players than the focal points and that is not an easy adjustment to make. Duncan is a team-first guy, though, so this shouldn't be alarming to Spurs fans, as he will do anything it takes to win a championship, and he will likely figure out how to fit in before too long.
Parker, too, has taken a backseat to Leonard and Aldridge after being the go-to-guy on offense for the past several seasons, but he has embraced it and feels it will help extend his career. Parker believes Duncan doesn't have to change much from what he has done throughout his career this season.
"I think for him and me, sometimes it's going to happen, sometimes not. It's just that we have to do the little stuff, make sure we play defense, stop our guy and for me personally, running the team, and for Timmy, get the board and stuff like that, blocking shots, and Timmy's always been doing that anyways," said Parker.
The good news for the Spurs is that even though they are still figuring things out, they are also still winning games. This team is extremely talented, has a lot of experience and cares about winning above everything else, so while it might be strange to hear Duncan say he's not sure what his role is, it won't affect his play, and when he and the rest of the team start to figure out their roles, this team should be extremely scary.
