After being hired by the Spurs last July and spending a year as an assistant coach on Gregg Popovich‘s staff, Tim Duncan has decided to step away from that position, reports Marc Stein of The New York Times.
According to Stein, the news doesn’t come as a major surprise to the Spurs, since the team anticipated Duncan’s stint as a full-time assistant could last only one season. As Stein explains, the expectation is that Duncan will return to the informal role he previously held with the franchise, showing up frequently at the Spurs’ facility to provide player-development assistance, but without an official title or full-time responsibilities.
It’s not clear whether or not Duncan envisions getting back into coaching in a more formal capacity down the road. He served as San Antonio’s interim head coach for one game in March and picked up a win, so if he doesn’t return to the sidelines in the future, he’ll go out with a perfect 1-0 record. He didn’t accompany the Spurs to the Orlando bubble this summer, having stayed in San Antonio to help oversee LaMarcus Aldridge‘s rehab from shoulder surgery.
Duncan was voted into the Hall of Fame alongside fellow former stars Kevin Garnett and Kobe Bryant earlier this year. However, the induction ceremony has yet to take place due to the coronavirus pandemic.
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