Even though this cat played his college ball during the time that I was actually heavily into
The San Antonio Spurs wanted Duncan so badly that they practically threw their season to make sure it would happen. Actually, there's no "practically" about it. They flat out did. David Robinson was injured for most of the season and was getting up there so they knew their hopes were fading. They were looking forward to the prospect of having a Twin Towers combination that would rival the Hakeem Oljauwon/Ralph Sampson one from the 80s, but hopefully with more success. Duncan was indeed the answer to their prayers.
Duncan didn't disappoint at all with his appearance in the League. His presence down low coupled with Robinson caused opponents to fear the Spurs' interior. As if his defense wasn't already reason enough to cause opponents problems, he was just as solid on the offensive end. Duncan understood that he could be a powerful low post player without all the flare that the League was accustomed to seeing at that time. That's why he earned the name "The Big Fundamental". He was consistently effective with methodical precision.
In just his second year in the League, Duncan helped lead the Spurs to an NBA Championship. They had to hear the naysayers ding them because it was only a shortened season. It didn't dissuade Duncan. All he did was lead them back there again. This time without Robinson, a Duncan-led Spurs team took the titles again in 2003 and 2005. He may be about as robotic as they come when it comes to emotion on the court, but if there is one thing he does know how to do it's win.
#20 - Patrick Ewing
There was a time when the best thing about college basketball was the Georgetown Hoyas. They may not have had a string of championships like the Wooden era UCLA Bruins (which will NEVER happen again anyway), but they were exciting to watch for quite a while. It seems like it all started when the Ewing era kicked off there.
It's another irony that two players are close together that share something in common. In this case, both have a bit of an NBA Draft conspiracy associated with them. 1985 was the first year the NBA instituted the Draft Lottery to prevent teams from deliberately losing games to secure the ultimate prize of a number one pick. It was long rumored that the envelope for the New York Knicks was frozen so that it was colder to the touch. That way when Commissioner David Stern went to pick out the unmarked envelopes from the bowl, it would guarantee the #1 pick would end up in the NBA's #1 market. That's where Ewing landed where he quickly became the face of the franchise.
Patrick was one of the few true centers in the history of the modern era who had mastered the mid-range game. There are those hybrid centers we see now that can do it, but they aren't "true" centers. They don't have that power game down low that Patrick was able to execute with great ease. The sad thing is even though he spent most of his career saddled with injuries, he was STILL one of the best centers the League had ever seen.
Although Patrick never got a Championship, he did have some epic runs at it. There was the NBA Finals in 1993 when the Knicks took the Bulls to a Game 6 before eventually succumbing. Then next season was Jordan's infamous hiatus and the Knicks had their best chance. Unfortunately, that was the same thing the Houston Rockets were eyeing and they went on to beat New York in 7 games. At least Ewing did share some glory by being part of the 1992 Olympic Dream Team. That along with his first Olympic gold medal from 1984 and his 11 All-Star appearances should be enough to help us overlook that hideous Patrick Chewing commercial he's been featured in recently.
