While I’m with the Spurs, I’ve heard a couple of stories over the years that make me appreciate certain players even more.
I heard John Stockton played a pre-season game injured, because he said the fans paid to see him play (and this was late in his career when he was older and probably could have used the rest I believe).
And a more popular story, although I can’t remember the exact details. I believe the Bulls were beating the Raptors, and Phil Jackson was going to sit Jordan the entire 2nd half. But Jordan hadn’t scored much and said he hadn’t given the fans their money’s worth yet. So he went out and put up like 20 points in the 3rd quarter, then told Jackson, now you can take me out.
Although I can’t really verify this, I heard guys like Jordan and Stockton never sat out a preseason game (except for maybe a real injury) and played them like playoff games. Not to take anything away from a classy guy like Duncan, because I definitely think it’s smart for the season and your career to take games off, but you gotta appreciate the guys who refuse to sit and always go hard every single game.