re at some point. But thats only happened a couple of times. Everybody has to move on.?Duncan, though, has been a relatively frequent guest at Spurs practices this season, working out with former te

As the San Antonio Spurs prepare to retire Tim Duncans No. 21 jersey Sunday night, Spurs coach Gregg Popovich has described Duncan ?as like my son.I love him dearly, Popovich told ESPNs SportsCenter in an interview earlier this week.Told that Spurs president R.C. Buford once described the two as soulmates to ESPN.com, Popovich said: Were more soulmates in life than we are in basketball. Ive been on his fanny so many times throughout his 19 years, and half the time he agrees with me and half the time he thinks Im a nut. And he just is polite enough and mature enough to just ignore me and go back out on the court, which allowed me to coach everybody else all those years. But off the court, thats where were soulmates.Popovich, though, said he and Spurs veterans Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili try to bring up Duncans absence very rarely after the big mans 19 stellar seasons in which he led San Antonio to five championships.?I think about it more off the court than I do during games or practices, Popovich told SportsCenter. You get busy, you get into what youre doing, but I miss him on the plane and on the bus trips and in the locker room after a win or a loss. Just the banter back and forth that weve had for, whatever, 19 or 20 years. I miss all of that.We might be somewhere at a certain moment in time and somebody says something [about Duncan] in a melancholy manner or reminiscing about such and such because we were all there at some point. But thats only happened a couple of times. Everybody has to move on.?Duncan, though, has been a relatively frequent guest at Spurs practices this season, working out with former teammates or new Spurs like center Pau Gasol, or counseling younger players such as forward Jonathon Simmons.He jumps in and out, Popovich said. A little bit of scouting [to] tell us what he thinks about this player or that player. Little bit of one-on-one here and there. Little bit of coaching, what were doing in pick-and-roll and what were doing here. Just hanging around -- just jumping in, putting a toe in the water, wherever he feels like it. Its great.We never know [when Duncan will show up], honestly. Its totally random. Everything is extemporaneous. Hes there or hes not. We might walk through the building and all of a sudden hes in there lifting weights. We put a locker for him in the coachs locker room in the practice facility and at the AT&T Center so he comes whenever he feels like it.Popovich, the only head coach Duncan has ever known in the pros, says now that he had a strong inkling the 40-year-old was bound for retirement after San Antonios second-round elimination in the playoffs last season against Oklahoma City.I was pretty sure that it was [the end], Popovich said. I knew hed take time during the summer to make a final decision and wed talk now and then, but I know he was frustrated because he had told me a couple years earlier, When I cant do what I need to do to help the team, I dont want to do it anymore. And it would frustrate him if some young whipper-snapper would make a move on him or do something and look at him like, Yeah, I got you. I wanted to run on the court [and say]: No, no, no. That wasnt Tim Duncan that you just did that to. But the young kid would have the gall to act that way, and I know that frustrated the hell out of him.??Duncans No. 21 will be the eighth Spurs jersey in franchise history to be hoisted to the rafters, joining David Robinson (50), George Gervin (44), James Silas (13), Johnny Moore (00), Sean Elliott (32), Avery Johnson (6) and Bruce Bowen (12).In addition to his role in the Spurs five titles, Duncan is the clubs all-time leader in points (26,496), rebounds (15,091), blocked shots (3,020), minutes (47,368) and games played (1,392). Hes the 14th-ranked scorer in NBA history and won two regular-season MVP awards as a Spur.Popovich, though, acknowledged that the famously media-shy Duncan had to be talked into Sunday nights postgame ceremony after San Antonio takes on the New Orleans Pelicans.It was a tough one, Popovich said. He knew that, in the end, he had to do it because he knows he owes it to the fans, more than anything, whove come out and supported him through all those years. But thats really the only reason hes doing it. He doesnt want any of the accolades, he doesnt want to sit there in a chair and listen to us talk about him. Hes dreading it. I even had to convince him, you know, Theyre going to have quite a few people in, so I thought, you know afterwards, well go get a bite or a Coke or a glass of wine or a beer or something and add a little food. [Duncan said,] Nah, Im not sure I want to do that. So I said: Timmy, wait a minute. All of these people are going to come from everywhere and theyre going to pay for flights and hotel rooms and youre going to shake their hand and say take care, Im going home? He said, I guess I cant do that, can I? I said, No, you cant do that. So well have a little get-together afterwards.Saad Yousuf of ESPN Radio in Dallas (103.3 FM) contributed to this report.? Jim Palmer Jersey . According to a report from the Vancouver Province, the Lions are expected to replace former DC Rich Stubler with defensive backs coach Mark Washington. Mark Trumbo Jersey .B. -- The Baie-Comeau Drakkar took over sole possession of first place atop the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League on Thursday with their sixth straight win. http://www.theoriolesteamshop.com/Orioles-Darren-Oday-Kids-Jersey/ . The Nashville Predators were glad their captain was still on their side. Weber had a goal and two assists, and Roman Josi scored the shootout winner to lift the Predators to a 4-3 win over the Flyers on Thursday night. Tim Beckham Jersey . 8 Iowa State on Saturday, sending the Cyclones to their third consecutive loss. The Longhorns (14-4, 3-2) got their biggest win of the season with their third in the row in the Big 12. Baltimore Orioles Jerseys . NBA officials ruled the court unplayable in the Bucks final exhibition game on Oct. 25 because players were slipping, and the game was cancelled midway through the first period. The 11th edition of the mens junior hockey World Cup begins in Lucknow on December 8, with 16 teams looking to vie for the title. This event has always highlighted some of the best upcoming talent in the world of hockey, who have usually gone on to serve their senior teams successfully in the sport.Here are five players who made their first big impact at the last five editions of the junior World Cup and have gone on to make a name for themselves in the sport.1997Brent Livermore (Australia)Australia have only one junior mens title in world hockey, which came in the 1997 edition played in Milton Keynes, England. Livermore played a key role in the midfield for the Australians -- the only team that went through the entire tournament undefeated. They scored 23 goals in seven matches, and beat a strong Indian team -- who had their own future star in vice-captain Dilip Tirkey -- 3-2 in the final. Livermore would go on to make more than 300 appearances for the senior team, winning his first silverware with the senior team just a few days later at the Champions Trophy. The 2004 Olympic gold medallist would captain the Chennai Cheetahs in the World Series Hockey in India in 2012.2001 Deepak Thakur (India)India picked up their only title in Hobart, and they did it in emphatic fashion, handing out a 6-1 thrashing against Argentina in the final. Three of those goals came from Thakur, for whom it was his second hat-trick of the tournament, having scored four against Scotland in the group stages as India won 7-1. Thakurs ten goals made him the standout performer in a high-quality Indian team as also the top scorer. Six of the players from this team would be given the Arjuna Award, including Thakur in 2004.2005Lucas Vila (Argentina)The youngest of three brothers to have played for Argentina, Vila was deemed the best player at the 2005 edition in Rotterdam, Netherlands where the team picked up the first place. Vila set Argentina on the way in the final after they had gone 1-0 down against Australia, and a Pedro Ibarra goal in the lastt minute of regulation time would swing it the way of the South Americans.dddddddddddd Vila, whose fluid style as a striker helped him drop deep to shore up the middle of the park, contributed to a steady rise in stock for his national team in international hockey, which went on to win the Olympic gold in 2016.2009Mink van der Weerden (Netherlands)The 2009 edition of the World Cup was co-hosted for the only time by two nations -- Malaysia and Singapore, and also featured 20 teams for the only time in history. There were four preliminary groups of five each, from where eight teams then qualified for a second phase of matches split into two groups of four. Defender Mink van der Weerden was the star for the Netherlands team with his ferocious drag-flicks -- including a hat-trick against India in a 3-2 win -- scoring 13 goals to emerge the tournaments top scorer. He also scored in the final, but could not prevent Germany from winning the match 3-1. He has, since then, gone on to become a regular fixture of the senior team. He also remains a particularly tricky opponent for the Indian team.2013Christopher Ruhr (Germany)Ruhr has picked up two FIH Young Player of the Year awards, in 2013 and 2015, and has been nominated for the third time this year. He is still only 22 years of age and was key to Germanys triumph at the last edition of the junior World Cup, held in Delhi in December 2013. Germany were beaten by an inspired Belgian side 3-1 in the first match, and then they responded with 12 goals in their next two games, against Pakistan and Egypt. Ruhr was their most impactful player, scoring from open play, converting penalty corners and also setting up his team mates for key goals. He scored in every game, right up to the final -- including a hat-trick in the 6-0 demolition of Pakistan in the group stages -- and ended up as the player of the tournament as well as its top scorer with nine goals. Camo China NFL Jerseys Jerseys From China Wholesale Nike NFL Jerseys Cheap Nike NFL Jerseys Youth NFL Jerseys China Cheap Jerseys 2019 Cheap Jerseys 2019 Wholesale Jerseys Free Shipping Wholesale Jerseys 2019 Cheap NFL T-shirts Disocunt Football Jerseys Jerseys NFL Cheap Cheap Jerseys From China Disocunt Football Jerseys Cheap Stitched Jerseys ' ' '