Tim Duncan Says Controversial Picture is No Big Deal

Remember when referee Joey Crawford threw Tim Duncan out of a game for laughing at him while sitting on the bench? Of course you do, it was amazing. Well, Duncan and his teammates have long memories, and they had fun with a fake Crawford on Halloween. The photo leaked onto the web, and the media won’t stop asking the Spurs about it. Tim Duncan addressed the mini firestorm today. Per the Express-News: “As someone who prizes comfort and privacy, it shouldn’t come as much surprise that Duncan views the leaking of a Halloween picture showing him and teammate Tony Parker holding toy guns to the head of a man dressed as NBA official Joey Crawford with a sort of resigned exasperation. ‘It’s this day and age,’ Duncan said. ‘It was a Halloween party in a private atmosphere. We were having fun. There was nothing to it. But this day and age, people want to blow things into something more than it is. Hopefully it’s gone and whatever is whatever.’ […] Head coach Gregg Popovich said he hadn’t seen the photo when asked about it on Monday. Teammate Manu Ginobili, who attended the same party as Zorro, said the photo was ‘very innocent.’ … ‘If somebody dressed like Pop was there,’ he said, ‘I probably would have done the same thing with my little sword. I think it was a joke.’ […] ‘You deal with it when it comes and try to take as little pictures as possible with people for that exact reason,’ Duncan said.”