Tim Duncan decided to make the leap into coaching full-time this past season with the San Antonio Spurs, but the future Hall of Famer and arguably the best power forward to ever live will apparently be cutting his coaching career off after just one season.
According to Marc Stein of the New York Times, Duncan’s foray into the coaching space will not continue in the 2020-21 season with the Spurs, as he returns to the retired life.
The Spurs' Tim Duncan is stepping away from full-time coaching after spending last season on the bench on Gregg Popovich's staff, @NYTSports has learned
— Marc Stein (@TheSteinLine) November 11, 2020
San Antonio's internal belief was always a one-year stint on the bench for Duncan, who is expected to return to his previous post-retirement role in which he made frequent appearances at the team's practice facility to provide various Spurs with player development assistance
— Marc Stein (@TheSteinLine) November 11, 2020
This was apparently expected all along by the Spurs, per Stein, and it isn’t a huge surprise as the grind of being an assistant coach in the league is pretty grueling. What we do know is that this surely won’t be Duncan stepping back completely from the Spurs, as before he became a full-time assistant coach he was a regular fixture in the practice facility, helping the Spurs bigs work on their craft and offering some tips and tricks of the trade. That will continue, but he just won’t be on Gregg Popovich’s bench anymore for games, as he’ll likely return to his car shop and do the things a retired legend is afforded.
Duncan will retire at an unofficial 1-0 as a head coach, as he picked up a win in Charlotte while filling in for Pop back in March.
