In some surprising news, the San Antonio Spurs today announced that Tim Duncan will be added to Gregg Popovich’s bench as an Assistant coach.  Will Hardy has also been named as an assistant coach.

“It is only fitting, that after I served loyally for 19 years as Tim Duncan’s assistant, that he returns the favor,” said Popovich.

Duncan, a 1997 Wake Forest graduate and one of the best big men in NBA history, played 19 seasons with the Spurs before retiring in the summer of 2016.  Nevertheless, the news was somewhat unexpected given Duncan's introverted personality, guarded privacy, and low profile in retirement.  Considering the typical grind and long hours of NBA assistant coaches, most expected Duncan to continue enjoying his life of retirement.

In many ways, however, the move makes sense.  Duncan was always a highly intelligent player who maintained his ability to impact games even as his physical ability faded.  As such, he has an outstanding knowledge of the game that he could potentially pass on to the Spurs' young players.  Moreover, his mastery of the fundamentals and unselfish team play exhibited during his playing career would be valuable attributes that any franchise would want to have instilled on their team.

By Staff of TheDailySportsHerald.com