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Via the Express-News:

For the 12th time in his 12 seasons, Spurs forward Tim Duncan found his name listed on one of the NBA’s All-Defensive teams Wednesday. In doing so, he etched his name deeper into the league record books.

Duncan, an eight-time member of the All-Defensive first team, earned a spot on this year’s second team.

He is the only player in NBA history to claim a dozen All-Defensive nominations. Duncan had shared the previous mark of 11 with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.

A few days ago I was talking with John Krolik about how Tim Duncan’s career will be remembered when he eventually retires. As an observer of the Spurs, I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about what I’ll say when that day comes, mostly because I currently have no idea. The funny thing is achievements like this push those words further away rather than bring them closer.

What can you say about a player who has appeared on 12 straight all-defensive teams? What adjectives do you use? Consistent. Dominant. These words don’t seem to capture the blessing it has been to watch Duncan define his era.

Basketball is a highly expressive game. More and more people are beginning to recognize the sport as a canvas on which the beautiful and the tactical engage one another. But few people talk about this beauty outside the context of offense. They do not realize that acts of negation also contain the capacity for creativity. Although oftentimes characterized as an empty skill that merely accompanies the more vigorous elements of the game, brilliant defense can overwhelm the notion of craft and inhabit a more expansive aesthetic realm.

Duncan’s artistry is quiet and ghoulish. He is like a contemporary Giacometti, molding his opponents into frail, lifeless figures who seem devoid of hope. There is time left on the clock; they must go on. But as they direct their attention into the painted area, and their eyes meet his, they know they can’t go on.

Congratulations Tim.