Spurs Legend Tim Duncan Explains How He Uses His No Trash Talk Attitude to Annoy Opponents

NBA players often use trash-talk to get into their opponents’ heads and disrupt their rhythm. Only a handful of them didn’t use this method to gain an edge on the court, and 5-time champion Tim Duncan was one. So why didn’t Timmy D ever talk trash in the league? 

Tim Duncan was a real one. He’s one of those players who chip in silent but monumental contributions to an organization’s success. Duncan recently connected with ‘The Ringer’ podcast, where he detailed his decision to never talk trash while playing ball. 

Tim Duncan gets real about his no trash-talk mentality

When players like Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant used trash-talk to elevate their games, why didn’t Tim Duncan do it? Well, it is because Duncan never saw it as a method to improve his game or his team’s chances of winning. 

What’s more interesting is that Duncan always managed to keep calm against players who used to taunt him. He was never the one to initiate the trash-talk and also learned to maintain his cool when others did it to him.

“It would frustrate people more when you just keep coming and coming and coming and you just keep getting things done and no matter what they throw at you or no matter what they do.

“It doesn’t affect you and it kind of it ends up affecting them uh much more than it does to you,” Duncan explained. 

The San Antonio Spurs legend never carried the mentality in his mind while entering games. He didn’t need it in any case. 

“So that was my way, that’s what I figured out to be most effective, and it sits with my game like I didn’t have to trash talk, I wasn’t good at it,” Duncan revealed. 

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Duncan referred to Kevin Garnett as one of the most lethal competitors he’s ever faced

Kevin Garnett requires no introduction. He’s a former MVP and a 15-time All-Star and probably the best trash-talker ever, possibly after Michael Jordan! Though Duncan didn’t face off against a prime MJ, he squared off against Garnett multiple times in his career. 

KG would always talk trash to his opponents, and Tim Duncan was no exception. However, Duncan resisted KG’s comments and never let any of it get to his head.

“With him [Kevin Garnett] because that’s what he wanted. He wanted to get you outside yourself, he wanted to piss you off and kind of control the situation and I guess I recognized that plus it wasn’t part of my game,” Duncan mentioned. 

Over the course of his career, the Spurs icon played against Kevin Garnett a total of 44 times, in which he averaged an impressive 19.0 points, 11.9 rebounds, and 3.2 assists per game. 

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