Tim Duncan is the most consistent superstar in recent NBA history. Duncan's averages from his first year (21.1 points per game, 11.9 rebounds per game, 2.7 assists per game, 2.5 blocks per game, 55% shooting percentage, 39.1 miniutes per game) are nearly identical to those of his just completed 10th (20.0 points per game, 10.6 rebounds per game, 3.4 assists per game, 2.4 blocks per game, 55% shooting percentage , 34.1 minutes per game).

His first professional decade includes three NBA championship rings, and he's got three NBA Finals MVP awards to go along with them. Duncan's won a pair of league MVPs, played in nine All-Star Games, and nine first-team All-NBA nods. He added another NBA championship in 2008.

During the 2007 playoffs, Duncan had at least 20 points and 10 rebounds in 11 straight games. It was the longest streak since Shaquille O'Neal had 13 in a row in 2004, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.

"It's nothing you pay attention to. You're playing and the opportunities are there. As I said, I feel good right now, I feel healthy right now. On top of putting those kinds of numbers up, we're winning games and winning series and that's all that matters."

--Tim Duncan, talking about his streak.

"Tim Duncan is the only one in this draft with a chance to be a superstar. He has all the qualities you want in an individual you'll be giving big bucks to. There is nothing about him to make you nervous.''

--Isiah Thomas, former President of the Toronto Raptors, discussing Tim Duncan back in 1997 before the draft that send Duncan to the Spurs.

Tim Duncan didn't even play competitive hoops until his freshman year in high school. He was initially motivated to try to make the Olympics as a swimmer.

Duncan grew up in the U.S. Virgin Islands and played his college basketball at Wake Forest. Wake decided to sign him after Duncan, as a 16-year-old, played Alonzo Mourning to a draw in a pick-up game. At Wake Forest, he not only became the most dominant player in college hoops, he also picked up a degree in psychology (his opponents would say he's very much using his degree these days). The San Antonio Spurs made him the top overall pick of the 1997 draft.

"In terms of humility, he's a different animal in today's world. I'm not sure the systems that are in place now allow someone to grow up that untainted. In that way, you may never see another like him."

--R. C. Buford, Spurs general manager.

"He's learned over the years that he's not a towel-throwing rah-rah sort of individual, so for him to lead that way would not work. He has dug deep within himself to really figure out what kind of guy he is, and what he is, is a guy who leads not just by example but by being supportive and empathetic, nonjudgmental with teammates.''

"The way he conducts himself on the court, he doesn't have any kind of attention-seeking characteristics. And his style of play is such a fundamental style that it's not flamboyant or awkward or different from the norm. The norm is what's rare now: You have everybody doing everything every which way. He does things the way we were coached when we were little kids -- his footwork, his body movement, everything that he does. It's not sexy. But it's efficient.''

--Spurs coach Gregg Popovich.

"Whenever I watch the Spurs in person, that's the first thing I notice: how well they talk on defense. It's a friendly, competitive chatter, like five buddies maintaining a running dialogue at a blackjack table as they try to figure out ways to bust the dealer.

"Duncan is the hub of it all, the oversize big brother who looks out for everyone else. During breaks in the action, you can always count on him to throw an arm around a teammate before dispensing advice or to wave everyone over for an impromptu pep talk. He's their defensive anchor, smartest player, emotional leader, crunch-time scorer and most competitive gamer, one of those rare superstars who simply can't be measured by statistics alone."

--Bill Simmons, ESPN The Magazine columnist.

"He's a guy who leads not just by example but by being supportive and empathetic and nonjudgmental with teammates, to the point where the trust they have with him is quite significant. Tim Duncan touching you on the back of the head or putting his arm around you on his way into a timeout or leaning over and saying something to you during a time out is big. He know that the attention from him to his teammates is just monstrous in their development and their self-confidence, and that recognition has made him the leader that he is."

--Gregg Popovich.

"I've never seen him get on one of his teammates in the games we've played, and we've played a lot. I only see complimentary things."

--Phil Johnson, Utah Jazz assistant coach, discussing Tim Duncan's leadership style.

"He's so reliable, he's performing so good for long periods of time, he makes everybody feel more secure. He's the guy who makes this team going from a good one to a great one."

--Manu Ginobili, discussing Duncan's presence as an important source of team tranquillity.

"There have been very few dynasties. I don't know that we can consider ourselves a dynasty, but that's me on the inside looking out. Dynasties are the things that the Lakers of the '80s and the [old] Celtics [did]. Those are who you consider dynasties --teams that have done it for many, many, many years. Hopefully we can look back in a couple years and be considered something like that. But, as of now, I can't imagine that we would be considered alongside those guys.

"Winning is our goal. Whatever that equals in the long run, you can define it however you want to."

--Tim Duncan, discussing his and the Spurs' place in history.

Two hours before a playoff game or any NBA game you can find Duncan on the court, stretching his back, shooting the schoolyard game "around the world" and systematically preparing his moves and patented bank shot.

"It's habit, it's what gets my mind and my body into the mind-set to feel right going into a basketball game,'' Duncan says of his pregame ritual. "So no, it doesn't get boring to me.''

He glances aside. "Uhh,'' he says, "actually, I lie on that point," Duncan says.

The tedium does get to him from time to time, so he'll play a shooting game with an assistant "to break the monotony.'' The important thing, to Duncan, is that he maintains his rhythm. He misses it badly when he fails to do it.

"If I have a day off, I'll come back in and the rhythm just won't feel the same,'' he says. "To do it every day and to have your mind and body in synch, it helps.''

excerpts from CNNSI.com