Tim Duncan
Born in Christiansted in the U.S. Virgin Islands, Tim Duncan didn’t always have his sights set on basketball. Originally, the basketball star had ambitions to become a swimmer at the Olympic level. However, 1989 would bring an end to Duncan’s dreams, when Hurricane Hugo swept through and ruined the Olympic sized pool he practiced in. The future star lost his enthusiasm for the water and basketball became his next pursuit.While playing basketball wasn’t the Duncan’s original ambition, it didn’t take him long to take the basketball world by storm. His skills at the Virgin Islands lead him to a place at Wake Forest University. From there, the player was picked for the 1997 draft, and his achievements would start rolling in. Not only was his called the NBA Rookie of the Year, but he is the second NBA player (in the history of the game) to become part of an All-Defensive Team and an All-NBA Team for each of his starting seasons.A few years later, he would be the NBA Finals MVP (1999) and would earn two NBA MVP awards (2002 and 2003). In 2003 and 2005, the player would also earn the NBA Finals MVP title.Alongside playing for the San Antonio Spurs, Amy (his wife) and the NBA star formed the Tim Duncan Foundation. Through fundraisers and other special events, they finance nonprofit organizations that focus on health awareness and research, education, and youth sports and recreation. Not only has Duncan’s foundation raised over 550,000 towards the prevention, treatment, and detection of breast and prostate cancer, but the group has also contributed to a wooden basketball court for St. Croix (25,000).