We all remember those deer-in-headlight eyes.
Palms raised upward, Tim Duncan would look at the referee _ any NBA referee _ and claim complete and unapologetic astonishment that he was called for a foul.
Yeah, that happened a few hundred times, if not thousands.
If that's your lingering memory of the San Antonio Spurs' big man who is every bit the franchise icon that Dirk Nowitzki is for the Mavericks, so be it.
But you would be well-served to also remember those thousands of soft bank shots that ended up in the bottom of the net, those post-up jump-hooks that were impossible to stop and those make-it-look-easy passes to wide-open teammates.
And the rebounding wasn't bad either.
As much as Maverick fans love to hate all things black-and-silver, word that Duncan has announced his retirement at age 40 years, 77 days still will leave a void. The Spurs will just seem a little less Spur-like when they visit this season.
Who could ever forget when Duncan _ saying nothing but peering relentlessly with those eyes at referee Joey Crawford _ getting ejected from a game at American Airlines Center despite not uttering a single word?
The eyes said enough for Crawford, who would end up getting suspended for his silence-is-molten heave of Duncan.
And there were other memories of The Big Fundamental, Old Man Riverwalk or whatever you wanted to call him.
He averaged 19.9 points and 11.3 rebounds in 64 regular season games against the Mavericks.
"I am sorry to see Tim retire," Dirk Nowitzki said. "I have so much respect for him. He was so good. He could do it all: pass, score on both blocks, drive, rebound, block shots. He wasn't flashy and always put the team first. I will always appreciate that he was about winning and never worried about the limelight. The league will miss him."
In the playoffs, we remember Game 7 in the first round of 2014, when Duncan was nearly perfect, making 7-of-8 shots for a very efficient 15 points. The Spurs were plus-23 when he was on the floor in the blowout win of what they would later say was by far their toughest series on the way to Duncan's final championship.
On Jan. 8, 2010, Duncan had 31 points and 12 rebounds, but lost at home against the Mavericks. A year before that, he had 32 points and 14 rebounds in a win at AAC.
There are players who averaged more than his career 19 points and 10.8 rebounds per game. But over 19 seasons, he left the game with a lot of memories.
And a lot of championships. Five, to be exact. He won with David Robinson and Matt Bonner and all sorts of players in between.
As hard as it is to admit, he'll be missed. Treasures of the sports world always are.
As coach Rick Carlisle said: "Over 19 years, Tim Duncan demonstrated the simplicity of greatness as a competitor, human being and ambassador for our game. It is simply impossible to find enough accolades to describe his wide-ranging impact on NBA culture and history."
