A former NBA champion looks unrecognisable after a shock career change
Standing at 7ft tall, he spent his whole 19-year career with the San Antonio Spurs
Taking to X, Spurs beat reporter Matthew Tynan shared a photo of the ex-player
By ZAC CAMPBELL
Published: 11:04 EDT, 2 April 2025 | Updated: 11:06 EDT, 2 April 2025
A former NBA champion who amassed $245million in career earnings looks unrecognisable after embarking on a shock career change.
Standing at 7ft tall, Tim Duncan spent his whole 19-year career with the San Antonio Spurs after being selected with the first overall pick of the 1997 Draft.
A power forward who was later inducted into the NBA Hall of Fame, Duncan earnt a whopping $245million (£190million) throughout nearly two decades in the sport.
While he coached the Spurs from 2019 to 2020, he looked unrecognisable after appearing at one of their training sessions in November.
Taking to X, formerly Twitter, Spurs beat reporter Matthew Tynan shared a photo of Duncan that saw him sporting facial hair and dreadlocks.
But his imposing height was dwarfed by the 7ft3in Rookie of the Year Victor Wembayama.
A power forward who was later inducted into the NBA Hall of Fame, he earnt a whopping $245million (£190million) throughout nearly two decades in the sport
After retiring from basketball, the individual has maintained his fitness by practising MMA, with his coach believing he could have fought professionally
He was also in attendance at the Spurs' game against the Golden State Warriors on Sunday night.
Fans were shocked by how different he looked, with one fan comparing him to legendary reggae artist Bob Marley.
Another fan also said: 'Since when did he start looking like Lenny Kravitz'.
After retiring from basketball, Duncan has maintained his fitness by practising MMA, with his coach believing he could have fought professionally.
Jason Echols of Echols Fitness in San Antonio, who he has trained for over a decade, told Bleacher Report: 'When he walked in the door, I could see that he was very hungry to learn martial arts, and his movement, his absorption of the martial arts was just phenomenal.
'You could really see the athleticism that existed in him already. It caught onto these movements, and he was able to absorb them better and pick it up better than the average person because of his athleticism.
'His size…it's incredible to watch him move. Now the world is seeing it.
'I'm 5ft10, so to be in front of someone of that size, it takes more physical energy to train a beast like that. It's hard holding the mitts for him, hard getting hit by him.
'Even though he's lugging on me and not executing full power, just to take a wallop from his leg, it's quite an impact.'
San Antonio Spurs