DeMarcus Cousins put Tim Duncan in his all-time top five on the Road Trippin' Show, citing 19 seasons in San Antonio without a losing year.
DeMarcus Cousins put San Antonio Spurs legend Tim Duncan in the all-time top five during a July 14 appearance on the Road Trippin' Show.
"I don't wanna hear no Top 5 without Tim Duncan in it. I think he's one of the most disrespected, [expletive] the basketball part, just winners of all time. Since he's stepped foot in the league, he's won. He's done nothing but win. From my knowledge I think he's the most winningest player of all time. So, if that's not Top 5 on top of all the accolades that come with it, he's never had a losing season, that's incredible!"
Cousins joined hosts Richard Jefferson, Channing Frye, and Kendrick Perkins. Earlier in the same appearance, Cousins was asked about his individual matchups and named Duncan the toughest player he ever had to guard.
Duncan spent all 19 of his seasons with the Spurs after going first overall in the 1997 draft out of Wake Forest. He was Rookie of the Year in 1998. Championships followed in 1999, 2003, 2005, 2007, and 2014, along with three Finals MVP awards and two MVP awards. He was a 15-time All-Star, a 15-time All-NBA selection, and a 15-time All-Defensive selection.
Duncan retired after the 2015-16 season with 1,001 regular-season wins, third all-time behind Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's 1,074 and Robert Parish's 1,014. He added 157 playoff wins. His combined total of 1,158 ranked second in league history until LeBron James passed it in November 2024. James went by Abdul-Jabbar on March 31 of this year and stands at 1,229.
Duncan's regular-season winning percentage was .719. Abdul-Jabbar finished at .688 and Parish at .629.
San Antonio posted a win percentage of at least .600 in all 19 of Duncan's seasons, the longest such streak in league history. The team reached the playoffs in every one of those years. Its .817 mark in 2015-16 was the best in franchise history.
At retirement Duncan ranked 14th in career points with 26,496, sixth in rebounds with 15,091, and fifth in blocks with 3,020. He is still the franchise leader in points, rebounds, blocks, minutes played with 47,368, and games played with 1,392. San Antonio retired his No. 21 on Dec. 18, 2016. Duncan was elected to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2020 and named to the NBA's 75th Anniversary Team.
Cousins and Duncan met 15 times in the regular season between 2010 and 2016. Duncan's teams won 13 of those games. Cousins averaged 16.9 points and 10.2 rebounds in the series, according to Land of Basketball. Duncan averaged 12.5 points, 9.0 rebounds, and 2.3 blocks.
Sacramento took Cousins fifth overall in 2010 out of Kentucky. He made four All-Star teams and scored a career-high 56 points against Charlotte on Jan. 26, 2016. His first playoff appearance came in his ninth season, in 2019 with Golden State.
Duncan returned to the organization as an assistant on Gregg Popovich's staff for the 2019-20 season.
San Antonio won 62 games last season, eliminated Portland and Oklahoma City in the playoffs, and lost to New York in five games in the franchise's first Finals appearance since 2014. Victor Wembanyama signed a five-year, $252 million extension on July 10, and the Spurs added Tobias Harris in free agency.
