Top 25 rookie seasons in NBA history: No. 9 Tim Duncan

The greatest rookie seasons in NBA history share a number of qualities, starting with individual statistical dominance. However, you can't overlook the context beyond the box score; initial expectations, team success, and overall legacy all matter.

While we wait for the 2019-20 season to resume, theScore's NBA editors have dusted off the record books to determine the top 25 rookie seasons in league history.

No. 9 in our series is Tim Duncan in 1997-98. Catch up on previous posts in the series here.

Before the Association

Duncan was born and raised in the U.S. Virgin Islands, where he dreamed of following in his sister's footsteps and swimming in the Olympics. However, fate intervened in 1989 when Hurricane Hugo tore through the Caribbean, destroying the pool Duncan used for training.

Transitioning to basketball at the relatively late age of 14, he developed rapidly through high school and accepted a scholarship to Wake Forest. In 128 games for the Demon Deacons between 1993-97, Duncan averaged 16.5 points, 12.3 rebounds, and 3.8 blocks while shooting 58% from the floor. In his senior year, he won both the Naismith and Wooden awards, playing the entire season as the consensus No. 1 pick in the 1997 NBA Draft.

His stellar career arguably makes Duncan the last greatest four-year college basketball superstar.

Draft day

Although Duncan didn't know it yet, another stroke of fate would define his career on Dec. 23, 1996, when San Antonio Spurs center David Robinson broke his foot against the Miami Heat.

The Spurs had been a serious Western Conference contender in the '90s, but the season-ending injury to the superstar derailed their campaign. San Antonio stumbled to a 20-62 record in 1996-97, a season that also saw general manager Gregg Popovich fire head coach Bob Hill and replace him with himself.

After San Antonio won the draft lottery that spring, Popovich made it clear right away Duncan was going to be a Spur. "The chances of trading Tim Duncan are about the same as (then team scout, now CEO) R.C. Buford starting for us at off-guard," he said.

On June 25, 1997, the Spurs made it official and selected Duncan first overall.

Individual success

Duncan made his NBA regular-season debut on Halloween in 1997 against the Denver Nuggets, scoring 15 points while grabbing 10 rebounds. It was his first of 57 double-doubles that season, a league-leading mark.

While he lacked the flash of big man contemporaries like Kevin Garnett, Duncan quickly won purists over with his basketball IQ. While the controlled chaos of Garnett's game would see him crush a ferocious dunk and let out a primal scream, Duncan was quietly - and lethally - working the elbows and the glass. It's why Shaquille O'Neal ultimately coined him the "Big Fundamental."

Duncan's first NBA campaign remains one of the greatest of all time based on accolades alone. The Rookie of the Year was the NBA Rookie of the Month for every month of the season, an All-Star, and the first rookie named to the All-NBA first team since Larry Bird - all while finishing fifth in MVP voting.

Team success

Adding Duncan alongside a healthy Robinson made the Spurs a force. San Antonio won 56 games in 1997-98, good for fifth in the West.

While the idea of pairing two traditional big men on the same team is a foreign concept today, in the days before pace-and-space it worked to near perfection. Known as the "Twin Towers," Duncan and Robinson anchored the second-best defense in the NBA while playing off each other fluidly on offense.

Duncan scored 32 points in his playoff debut - a win over the Phoenix Suns. The Spurs dispatched Phoenix in the first round, but lost to the eventual conference champion Utah Jazz in five games in the semis.

Enduring legacy

Duncan's sophomore season eclipsed his stellar rookie campaign. In the lockout shortened 1998-99 season, he led the Spurs to their first NBA championship, a feat that would be repeated four more times over the course of his 19-year career.

His businesslike dominance for nearly two decades came to encapsulate the Spurs as a franchise. Not only did Duncan never miss the playoffs in his NBA career, none of his teams ever lost more than 32 games in a single season. While he played both the four and five, many maintain he's the greatest power forward to ever play the game.

A 2020 Hall of Fame inductee, two-time MVP, and 15-time All-NBA selection who ranks seventh in career total rebounds, the case can be made that he deserves a spot on the NBA's all-time starting five.

Come back Friday to see who came in at No. 8 in theScore's Top 25 Rookie Seasons series.