Name: Tim Duncan

Team: San Antonio Spurs

Position: Forward

NBA Statistics: 21 (points), 11.6 (rebounds), 3.2 (assists)

Background: Often times stories are told of success after failure, joy after mourning and even triumph after disaster. Well in some way or another all these adages can be applied to the life of Hall-of-Fame bound NBA star Tim Duncan.

Born April 25, 1976 in the US Virgin Islands, Tim Duncan spent most of his early years eagerly preparing to wear the colours of USA at the 1992 Olympics, not as a basketball player but as a swimmer and indeed he was a TEENage standout. This dream was crushed, however, in 1989 when Hurricane Hugo rocked the island and destroyed the country’s sole Olympic-sized swimming pool and just when it was believed things could not get any worse he lost his mother to breast cancer a day before his 14th birthday. Hoping to get over the anguish Tim yielded to the persuasion of his brother-in-law to take up basketball.

Tim was perceived a talent on his home country, and through this he managed to achieve a scholarship to Wake Forest University in 1993. Heartache was rekindled, however, after ending his first college game without a single point. Fast forward to the summer of 1997 and Tim was the top college student in the country and was rewarded for his hard work by being selected as the number one overall draft pick, swooped up by the struggling San Antonio Spurs.

He was critical to the Spurs’ resurgence and for his exploits, was named 1997 NBA Rookie of the Year, finishing with 21.1 points and 11.9 rebounds. 13 years into the future, the 34-year-old who never took up a basketball before the ninth grade is now a two-time league MVP and has four NBA titles, three of which he claimed MVP awards.