Former Spurs power forward Tim Duncan became the eighth Spur in franchise history to have his jersey (21) retired, joining a group that includes George Gervin (44), David Robinson (50), Sean Elliott (32), James Silas (13), Avery Johnson (6), Bruce Bowen (12) and Johnny Moore (00).
"I'm going to tell you this: I won a lot of bets tonight," Duncan joked. "I didn't wear jeans. I wore a sport coat, and I spoke for more than 30 seconds. Thank you, San Antonio. Thank you."
In his typical understated fashion, Duncan spoke for 4 minutes, 18 seconds, thanking a group sitting at center court that included his college coach at Wake Forest, Dave Odom, along with his children, various family members, former teammates Bowen, Tony Parker, Manu Ginobili, Robinson and Elliott, Spurs coach Gregg Popovich, and general manager R.C. Buford.