Tim Duncan is getting divorced from his long time wife, Amy. But the timing of the divorce is most troubling, with her filing for the divorce on the eve of the Spurs playoff run this spring and summer. Now we know the problems started way earlier than that.  

According to Buck Harvey of the San Antonio Express-News, Tim Duncan hired a private investigator to follow his wife earlier this 2012/13 season.

Wrote Harvey earlier this week: "Tim Duncan had concerns as long ago as last fall. According to a well-placed source, that led him to hire a private investigator. A divorce petition was filed two months ago. Amy Duncan moved out about three weeks ago, the source said."

Originally, as we mentioned rearlier in the week when the divorce filing was made public, the Spurs and Duncan were secretive about the whole thing, providing only initials in the court filings to keep the divorce proceedings under wraps. 

But it quickly became evident that Amy and Tim Duncan's marriage was falling apart much earlier, but that because Duncan loathes media scrutiny, it didn't come out until now. 

Amy moved out of the couples home about a month ago, and Duncan and their two kids have left AT&T Arena without her since the playoffs began. 

The Spurs are usually the most tight-lipped team in the league, with GM, R.C. Buford and head coach Gregg Popovich refusing to comment about anything until it's official. 

The same could be said for Duncan's impending divorce from wife, Amy, whom he met while playing basketball for Wake Forest University in the late 1990's. 

Amy Duncan was a cheerleader on that squad and they've lived, what appeared to outsiders, as a blissful union in the ensuing years. 

But like a lot of professional athletes, like Duncan's teammate, Tony Parker, athletes have a hard time making a marrage work. 

Parker, quite famously, divorced from his wife, Desperate Housewives actress Eva Longoria, after it was revealed he was carrying on an extra-marital affair with teammate, Brent Barry's ex-wife. 

Duncan even refers to Parker's marriage as his "Hollywood phase."

But Tim Duncan is much less apt to be in the papers for his personal life, something he's guarded since being made the first pick in the 1997 NBA draft. 

Duncan also made his 10th All-NBA First Team, and first since the 2006/07 season this year. 

He's continued to play wonderfully despite the divorce distractions, leading his Spurs to their fifth NBA Finals appearance since he arrived in San Antonio all those years ago. 

It remains to be seen whether they'll capture his fifth NBA title when they face the winner of the Miami Heat - Indiana Pacers series, which is playing game 6 tonight in Indiana, with Miami ahead 3-2 in the series. 

Regardless of how the postseason plays out, Duncan is going to have a rough offseason with this divorce put on the backburner until he can finish the playoffs.