Michael Ventre

I wonder how Tim Duncan feels about being looked upon as dull. I can’t tell him how to feel, of course. But if it were me, I think I would embrace it.

All he has to do is look around the sporting landscape at some of the personalities whom the media consider worthy of saturation coverage: Terrell Owens, Curt Schilling, Barry Bonds, Shaquille O’Neal, Michael Vick. If they and others like them are the faces of modern popular culture, Duncan should not only revel in his dullness, he should offer seminars to dullness devotees.

The topic of Duncan’s dullness receives more attention in direct relation to how he’s playing. If he is slightly off his game, as he was last season, then the dullness isn’t discussed, because Duncan isn’t discussed. If he’s playing like a boring man possessed, like he has been lately, then people the world over fixate on his dullness.

It’s enough to make a guy withdraw from the spotlight, avoid the press and attempt to blend in unnoticed — which isn’t exactly a radical departure.

Last season, Duncan suffered from a heel injury, and although he still put up impressive numbers, they represented career lows at that point (18.6 points, 11.0 rebounds). He wasn’t his old self. He didn’t move right. He didn’t take over games in the low post in the same way he used to. As a result, the Spurs fell to the Dallas Mavericks in the conference semifinals.

And Duncan was bumped off the All-NBA first team for the first time in his career.

This season, Duncan is back in his rightful place on that premier peer squad, as he knocked LeBron James back to the second team.

The Spurs are again back in the spotlight, advancing to the Western Conference finals.

They dispatched the Suns in six games. Of course, this occurred partly because of Duncan’s defense down the stretch in the hotly contested and highly controversial Game 5, and again in Game 6.

Special feature A look back at Spurs' win over Cavs

The suspensions from Game 5 overshadowed Duncan's great play. Once again, Duncan is duller than ever — and the Spurs couldn’t be happier.

With Duncan, they have the most gifted big man in the league. While he may not display the athleticism of an Amare Stoudemire, he is a fundamentally flawless power forward who is tenacious enough to fight for rebounds and amass put-backs, but also to flick soft bank shots off the glass from mid-range and to finesse his way to the hoop for dunks and layups.

In addition, he is a bulwark for a club that is among the NBA leaders in every defensive category year after year. Duncan’s career average in blocks is 2.5 per game, and he has never averaged fewer than 2.0. Of course, the category of blocks never tells the full story, because it doesn’t reveal exactly how many times scorers were dissuaded from shooting or driving to the hoop.

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