San Antonio Spurs legend David Robinson praised his former teammate and soon-to-be Hall of Famer Tim Duncan in a recent interview. “The Admiral” spent his last few seasons in the league playing with the No. 1 pick out of Wake Forest, who will soon be enshrined in the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame alongside other iconic contemporaries like Kobe Bryant and Kevin Garnett.

“Tim is the coolest customer. He reminds me of the old ‘Cheetos' cat who used to be on their ads. He's just so cool,” said Robinson in an interview with NBC Sports. “There's few people who have that natural cool and Tim has it. You could see it in the way he played. He was composed and under control. Literally one of the top five who ever played basketball.

“Great friend. A great competitor.”

Robinson acknowledged he saw that the fellow Spurs legend was destined for greatness from a ripe age:

“With Tim, when he came in as a youngster, I indoctrinated him into the nerd-world of video games. We used to play a computer game  — Starcraft or something. I used to beat him and Malik Rose like a drum. Kill them. Then they turned it around on me so quick and all of a sudden they became incredible at the game and I stopped playing.”

Duncan, who will soon become the third Spurs player to be enshrined in Springfield, credited Robinson for part of his success in the league:

“I walked into a situation where I got to learn from some of the best. I had great teammates,” said Duncan in a recent interview with ESPN following the Class of 2020 announcement. “I had an opportunity to grow. While not being counted on as much as a No. 1 pick is usually is.”

Robinson surely seems like the right player to mold Duncan into the winner he became throughout his career. A mix of discipline, fundamentals, and the undeniable chemistry with Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich made his career one many in San Antonio will never forget.