what year did tim duncan enter the nba?
1997–98 NBA season
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 Duncan started out as a swimmer and only began playing basketball in ninth grade after Hurricane Hugo destroyed the only Olympic @-@ sized pool on his home of Saint Croix , U.S. Virgin Islands . He soon became a standout for St. Dunstan 's Episcopal High School , and had an illustrious college career with the Wake Forest University Demon Deacons , winning the Naismith College Player of the Year , USBWA College Player of the Year and John Wooden awards in his final year . Duncan graduated from college before entering the 1997 NBA draft as the number one pick . 

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 In the year before Duncan 's arrival at Wake Forest University , the Demon Deacons reached the Sweet 16 , but then lost main scorer Rodney Rogers , who entered the 1993 NBA draft . In the 1993 – 94 NCAA season , Coach Dave Odom was considering redshirting Duncan , but was forced to play him after fellow freshman big man Makhtar N 'Diaye was ruled out due to NCAA rules violations and eventually transferred to Michigan . Duncan struggled with early transition problems and was even held scoreless in his first college game , but as the year progressed , he and teammate Randolph Childress led the Deacons to a 20 – 11 win @-@ loss record . Duncan 's style of play was simple but effective , combining an array of low @-@ post moves , mid @-@ range bank shots and tough defense . He was chosen to represent the U.S. in the 1994 Goodwill Games . Meanwhile , Duncan worked towards a degree in psychology and also took classes in anthropology and Chinese literature . Despite focusing heavily on basketball , Wake Forest psychology department chairperson Deborah Best was quoted : " Tim [ ... ] was one of my more intellectual students . [ ... ] Other than his height , I couldn 't tell him from any other student at Wake Forest . " Duncan also established his reputation as a stoic player , to the extent that opposing fans taunted him as " Mr. Spock " , the prototypical logical , detached character from Star Trek . 

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 In his basketball career , Duncan collected a number of individual and team honors , including being a two @-@ time MVP ( 2002 , 2003 ) , five @-@ time NBA champion ( 1999 , 2003 , 2005 , 2007 , 2014 ) and three @-@ time NBA Finals MVP ( 1999 , 2003 , 2005 ) . As a college player , he was honored by the House of Representatives , named the ACC Male Athlete of the Year , won the John R. Wooden Award and Adolph Rupp Trophy , and was selected as the Naismith College Player of the Year in addition to player of the year honors from the United States Basketball Writers Association ( USBWA ) , National Association of Basketball Coaches ( NABC ) and Sporting News ( all 1997 ) . In 2002 , Duncan was named to the ACC 50th Anniversary men 's basketball team honoring the 50 greatest players in ACC history . In his debut year in the NBA ( 1998 ) , he was voted Rookie of the Year and elected into the All @-@ Rookie Team . He has been named to 15 NBA All @-@ Star Teams ( 1997 – 98 ; 1999 – 2000 to 2010 – 11 ; 2012 – 13 and 2014 – 15 ) , 15 All @-@ NBA Teams ( 1997 – 98 to 2009 – 10 , 2012 – 13 , 2014 – 15 ; ten First Team nominations ) , and 15 All @-@ Defensive Teams ( 1997 – 98 to 2009 – 10 ; 2012 – 13 , 2014 – 15 ; eight First Team nominations ) . With these impressive performances , Duncan is one of only four players to receive All @-@ NBA First Team honors in each of his first eight seasons ( 1998 – 2005 ) , along with Hall of Famers Bob Pettit ( ten seasons ) , Larry Bird ( nine seasons ) , and Oscar Robertson ( nine seasons ) , and is the only player in NBA history to receive All @-@ NBA and All @-@ Defensive honors in his first 13 seasons ( 1997 – 98 to 2009 – 10 ) . 

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 In 1998 , Duncan was selected as one of the last two players for the United States national team for the World Basketball Championship . However , this team was later replaced with CBA and college players because of the NBA lockout . Duncan 's first chance at playing for the national team came in 1999 when he was called up to the Olympic Qualifying Team . He averaged 12 @.@ 7 ppg , 9 @.@ 1 rpg and 2 @.@ 4 bpg and led the team to a 10 – 0 finish en route to a qualifying berth for the 2000 Sydney Olympics , but a knee injury forced him to stay out of the Olympic Games themselves . 

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 The selection of center Sam Bowie with the No. 2 pick in the 1984 NBA draft over Michael Jordan ( who was then drafted by the Chicago Bulls ) ; other notable players taken later in that draft include future Hall @-@ of @-@ Famers Charles Barkley and John Stockton . 
