Tim Duncan could have easily gone out on top, with his fifth NBA championship trophy under his arm and his health intact just a few months after his 38th birthday. Theres just no way. Duncan is having too much fun with his San Antonio Spurs coaches and teammates, and hes playing too well to call it quits now. Duncan has decided to exercise the option on his contract for 2014-15 and will return next season, a person with knowledge of the decision told The Associated Press on Monday. The person requested anonymity because an official announcement has not been made. As the Spurs beat the two-time defending champion Miami Heat in the NBA Finals earlier this month, Duncan was asked several times about his future, as he has been for the last five or six years. He was noncommittal, saying he would take some time after the season ended to mull his decision. But after Game 5, most of the Spurs said they expected the group to return and now Duncan has reached his decision, which was first reported by Yahoo! Sports. He will make about $10.3 million next season in the final year of a two-year agreement that was drawn up specifically to allow the Spurs the financial flexibility to surround Duncan with top-shelf talent. "He feels a responsibility to his teammates," Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said after the team won the championship. "He enjoys them. He wants to hang around as long as he can while hes useful and while hes having an impact on the game. He takes care of his body. He works out all summer long with a variety of different things, boxing, swimming. Hes very careful about what he puts in his body, so he does everything he can to maintain a level of play. "At some point," Popovich added, "that will stop." But not this year. When Duncan looked around at the Spurs, he saw every reason to come back and try to do just about the only thing the Spurs havent done during his 17 years there -- win back-to-back titles. In Popovich he has perhaps the best coach in the game, one who has established a culture of teamwork, success and stability that is unparalleled in the league. In Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili, he has two trusted teammates who have been by his side for years, have sacrificed money, fame and statistics right along with him to build the Spurs organization into the envy of the NBA. And in Finals MVP Kawhi Leonard, Duncan has a young, fresh-faced star on the rise to carry more of the load as the Big Three get older. "With the front office putting the teams together that weve had and us playing smaller roles and our roles changing over the years, and us happy to accept the roles that were in, I feel we can do it until we feel we dont want to do it anymore," Duncan said two weeks ago. Perhaps as important as anything, Duncan is still one of the best big men in the league. He was named first team All-NBA in 2012-13 as he helped the Spurs to the finals, where they lost to the Heat in a heart-breaking seven-game series. This season, Duncan averaged 15.1 points, 9.7 rebounds and 1.9 blocks in just 29.2 minutes per game, playing in a system expertly devised by Popovich to limit the wear and tear on his body. He shot almost 57 per cent in the finals and dismantled Heat star Chris Bosh, who grew up with a Duncan poster on his bedroom wall. "Weve been on our last run for the last five or six years from how everyone wants to put it," Duncan said. "We show up every year, and we try to put together the best teams and the best runs possible because what people say doesnt matter to us. "As I said, as long as we feel were being effective, were going to stay out here and were going to play. We feel like we can be effective, and we have been." Myron Baker Jersey Online .J. -- New York Giants quarterback Eli Manning is going to start the off-season training program with a surgically repaired left ankle. Jeff Sevy Jersey Online . Hoffman, the former star closer, will evaluate and help co-ordinate all pitchers at Double-A, Triple-A and the big league team. Byrnes says Hoffman "will be a key part of finishing the development of our younger pitchers. https://www.cheapjerseysatwholesale.com/. This weeks topics include his take on the Kevin Pillar incident, All-Star snubs, the firing of Padres general manager Josh Byrnes and more. John Gerak Jersey Online . -- Pelicans coach Monty Williams does not expect guard Eric Gordon to play in any of New Orleans final five games this season. Keith Woodside Jersey Online .com) - The Hatch Attack is back in the Southern Conference.LONDON -- Didier Drogba rejoined Chelsea on Friday, reuniting one of footballs most theatrical characters with flamboyant manager Jose Mourinho. The 36-year-old Ivory Coast international, who was a free agent after spells with Shanghai Shenhua and Galatasaray, signed a season-long deal with the Premier League club. "It was an easy decision. I couldnt turn down the opportunity to work with Jose again," Drogba said. "Everyone knows the special relationship I have with this club and it has always felt like home to me. "My desire to win is still the same and I look forward to the opportunity to help this team. I am excited for this next chapter of my career." With the last kick in his last game for Chelsea in May 2012, Drogba won the Champions League title for Chelsea, scoring the decisive penalty in the shootout against Bayern Munich. During eight years at Chelsea, Drogba also won three Premier League titles, four FA Cups and two League Cups after being signed by Mourinho in 2004 from Marseille.dddddddddddd. Now Mourinho, who was away from Chelsea between 2007 and 2013, is reshaping the team after failing to win a trophy in his first season back at Stamford Bridge. Drogba is the proven scorer Mourinho desperately craved last season, with 157 goals in 341 appearances. "Hes coming because hes one of the best strikers in Europe," Mourinho said. "I know his personality very well and I know if he comes back hes not protected by history or what hes done for this club previously. He is coming with the mentality to make more history." Drogba was Chelseas man for the big occasions, contributing nine goals in nine finals, but he is also one of the games most inflammatory players. He has infuriated rivals fans with what they view as a habit of diving, and enraged referees with his aggressive foul-mouthed conduct, earning several bans from UEFA. ' ' '