Basketball On The Internet.

IN the wake of the celebration, the partying and the back-slapping cigar-smokin', the old man from Wake Forest was the one for whom to spare a thought.

Tim Duncan, The Big Fundamental, was the one in the most pain when San Antonio came up short in the epic NBA Finals against Miami.

Hindsight is always 20-20 but no-one needed much of it to see the Spurs had the championship won in Game 6 until Miami fashioned a miracle to even force it to a one-and-done decider.

Tony Parker may have been hindered by hamstring woes and Manu Ginobili with the onset of age. But Duncan, the four-time NBA champion was hurting the worst as LeBron put the finishing touches on the Heat's championship win, 95-88.

Flashback to the score at 90-88 to Miami.

Duncan has the ball in the lane and defending him is Shane Battier.

"I was just praying that he missed it, to be honest with you," Battier would say in the post-game.

With Game 7 on the line, their three-time Finals MVP Duncan backing in a guy eight centimetres shorter and 16 kilo lighter would normally have Spurs fans salivating.

At 37, he's worked that move so often, the only easier bucket would be a dunk during an individuals session.

But the Hoop Gods were crowning King James this day, Duncan's shot skimming off the rim ... then for a second time as he lunged for a desperate follow-up tap in.

Seconds later, Duncan would slap the floor at the defensive end, knowing only too well how differently this might have ended had he locked it up at 90-90.

It was his very own "Patrick Ewing moment" recalling how the great Knicks centre missed his signature move against Indiana so long ago.

But instead of tying the ballgame, and after scoring 30 in Game 6 and another 24 in the decider, Duncan was left with this.

"Missing a layup to tie the game, making a bad decision down the stretch, being unable to stop Dwyane (Wade) and LeBron (James), Game 7 is always going to haunt me," he told the post-game press conference.

No-one deserves such a burden but especially not Duncan. Only he and second-year player Kawhi Leonard (19 points, 16 rebounds), even played at a championship level for San Antonio.

Leonard has his career ahead of him - he was seven when Duncan first won an NBA championship - but for the Big Fundamental, the window is closing.

He played 43 minutes - 43, at 37.

Of Miami's athletically superior roster, only James played more time than Duncan in the seven-game championship series.

And James had help from at least one of his team's "Big 3" - Wade stepping up in the absence of Chris Bosh in Game 7.

Chris Andersen stepped up too. So did Battier. So did Mario Chalmers.

In contrast with the Spurs' "Big 3", Parker was a spent force and Ginobili a turnover-waiting-to-happen almost every time he handled the rock.

And the support cast? Danny Green shot a playoff record number of threes but once Miami took the shot from him in Games 6 and 7, off the dribble and from mid-range he became a liability.

Gary Neal? Tiago Splitter? There were a few MIAs in the SAS.

That's why it was just a little sad to see Duncan slap the floor because you knew right there, he would carry the burden of this loss when it so genuinely should not have been his at all.

"That's out of me just missing a bunny," Duncan said when asked about his rare show of emotion.

"I got by Shane and had a layup to tie the game. That's just frustration."

Summer will ease that frustration though he made it clear he will always carry that moment.

A shame really because San Antonio has been a great team since Duncan has been around, regardless of who the organisation put around him.

The Spurs never won consecutive championships as Miami just did, but even now, past their prime, they gave the Heat what coach Erik Spoelstra called "the toughest series we've ever been in."

Respect is clearly due Duncan.

And maybe a small dose of sympathy, too.