Hailed as one of the greatest power forwards in NBA history, American Tim Duncan celebrates his 40th birthday today. He was born in St. Croix, in the U.S. Virgin Islands, in 1976 and first got acquainted with sport as a swimmer before taking up basketball in high school.
He spent his entire career at the San Antonio Spurs (1997 to present), with whom he won five NBA championships, was named NBA MVP twice, NBA Finals MVP three times, as well as NBA Rookie of the Year in 1998.
Duncan is also a 15-time NBA All-Star and the only player ever to be selected to both the All-NBA and All-Defensive Teams in every one of his first 13 seasons.
He is Spurs’ all-time leading scorer and this month, on April 5, he became the third player with 1,000 victories in the regular season, behind Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Robert Parish.
Here’s who else is celebrating their birthdays today:
1980: Alejandro Valverde, Spanish Cyclist. Winner of 2009 Vuelta a Espana and four Tour de France Stages (36)
1981: Felipe Massa, Brazillian F1 driver, who currently drive for Wiliams. Runner-up in 2008 Championship (35)
1982: Monty Panesar, English international cricketer. A left-arm spinner who plays for Northhamptonshire (34)
1993: Raphael Varane, French Footballer, who plays as a central defender for Real Madrid and France (23)