Duncan Named NBA's Best Rookie

April 27, 1998 / 9:49 PM EDT / AP

After just one season, Tim Duncan is drawing comparisons to the likes of David Robinson and Kevin McHale.

Duncan, a major force in leading the San Antonio Spurs to a record turnaround this season, was overwhelmingly voted the NBA's Rookie of the Year on Monday.

"It's a goal I had coming into this year," he said. "I wanted to play well this year and win this award."

The No. 1 draft pick from Wake Forest received 113 of 116 votes (97 percent) from a panel of NBA writers and broadcasters. New Jersey's Keith Van Horn got the other three votes.

Duncan's margin of victory as the largest since Shaquille O'Neal received 98 percent of the vote in 1992-93.

"He's big time, just like David (Robinson) was and just like Shaq was," Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. "His demeanor and approach to this whole business is uncommon and extraordinary."

With Duncan in the lineup and Robinson returning from foot and back injuries, the Spurs went 56-26 in the regular season, an improvement of 36 victories from their 1996-97 mark.

San Antonio set another league record by holding opponents to 41.1 percent shooting. After missing the playoffs last season, the Spurs qualified this year with the fifth-best record in the Western Conference.

"It's been great playing with every one of my teammates because it's a veteran crew," said the 7-footer from Wake Forest, who was the top pick in last June's NBA draft. "I came in here with little pressure on me because we had such a core of great players."

With slick post moves, deft ball-handling and smothering defense, Duncan became the first rookie to play in the NBA All-Star Game since Grant Hill in 1995.

He averaged 21.1 points, 11.9 rebounds, 2.7 assists, 2.5 blocks per game and shot .549 from the field. He was the 19th rookie in NBA history to average at least 20 points and 10 rebounds per game.

Duncan led all rookies in scoring, rebounding, blocks and field goal percentage and ranked seventh in assists. He ranked third in rebounding, fourth in field goal percentage, sixth in blocks and 13th in scoring among all players.

Duncan joined Ralph Sampson (1983-84) and Robinson (1989-90) as the only players to win Rookie of the Month honors every month since the NBA started giving out the award in the 1981-82 season.

"It's been a great year," Duncan said. "It's been a lot of fun."