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Birthday Special: When Tim Duncan Was Denied One of Rarest ‘Quadruple-Double’ Feat in Finals
Duncan's 2003 NBA Finals performance is still remembered as one of the major highlights of his illustrious career. The all time Spurs missed a quadruple-double in the game, one of the rarest till date
Basketball, a game filled with boundless enthusiasm, is renowned for its affinity for achieving some of the most extraordinary on-court records.
Quadruple-double, which is by far believed to be one of the rarest feats in the NBA. The rare yet fancy record is called when a player has ten or more of the four out of the five statistical categories ticked in a single game, including points, assists, rebounds, blocks, and steals.
With all the joy and admiration, we are paying a special birthday tribute to the five-time NBA champion and an all-time Spurs player, Tim Duncan. Born on April 25, 1976, Timmy had a long list of accolades to his name, like MVP, All-Star, All-NBA First Team, and whatnot!
Today, we are going back in time, to when he was denied one of the rarest records to his name, a quadruple-double.
In Game 6 of the 2003 NBA Finals, the egregious oversight by the league led to the denial of a historic achievement for Tim Duncan. With an extraordinary stat line of 21 points, 20 rebounds, 10 assists, and 8 blocks, Duncan's performance nearly secured a quadruple-double. 
However, a closer examination of the game footage reveals that two clear blocks were excluded from his official record. The first instance occurred at the 5:38 mark, wherein Duncan's defensive prowess resulted in a block, yet it was mistakenly deemed as him merely swatting the ball out of bounds.
Furthermore, a second block was erroneously attributed to David Robinson, despite it being Duncan who made the pivotal defensive play.
Had these two additional blocks been accounted for, Tim Duncan's exceptional display would have constituted a stat line of 21 points, 20 rebounds, 10 assists, and an impressive 10 blocks—a performance that would have cemented his status in NBA history.
However, the rarity of the feat can be exemplified by the number of players who have ever been able to add their names to the list. There are only four basketball players to ever achieve this, namely, Nate Thurmond, Alvin Robertson, Hakeem Olajuwon, and David Robinson.
What was going on in Tim Duncan's mind?
Duncan has always been known to be a player who sticks to the ideal playing technique. He hardly had any of the drama involved to his name, be it on the court or off-court.
Recently, when Duncan was asked about the incident and what exactly was going on in his mind during the game, he had the most obvious answer that best suited his mindset.
He said, “What was I thinking? Luckily, I wasn't.“
He went on to add that there wasn't any special thinking going on in his mind. He was calm and composed as ever and was 'just trying to get it done'.
Duncan was always appreciated for the way he saw the game. One of his contemporaries, Amar'e Stoudemire, described TD as one who played silently and even outlasted the louder ones.
Stoudemire believed that he and Duncan were polar opposites during the game.
And, if basketball archives are to be believed, Duncan was one of the reasons that came in Stoudemire's way of becoming the next big thing in the NBA.
Additionally, Duncan had 15 All-Defensive Team honors to his name.
