Tim Duncan says he lost more than $20M in career earnings to 'dishonest' adviser

San Antonio Spurs veteran Tim Duncan is not sure if he will be back for a 19th NBA season, but he said money will not play a role in his decision.

The 39-year-old Spurs forward has lost nearly 10 per cent of his career earnings, more than $20 million, to what he said was a dishonest financial adviser who forced Duncan into questionable investments.

Despite that, Duncan insisted money will not dictate whether or not he returns to the Spurs.

"Luckily I had a long career and made good money," Duncan said in an interview with Bloomberg. "This is a big chunk, but it"s not going to change my life in any way. It"s not going to make any decisions for me."

Duncan discovered the losses, which accumulated from 2005-2013, while going through divorce proceedings. He filed a lawsuit against Charles Banks, his former adviser, in January.

"I trusted someone to do a job that I hired them to do and they misused my trust and went astray and started using my money, Duncan said.

"I want people to understand that the statements he made are absolutely incorrect, that he"s just trying to make himself look good and save his own image when there"s nothing there to save."

Banks has denied Duncan's allegations.

"In fact, Mr. Banks found the legal action surprising because Mr. Duncan has no claim against Mr. Banks," Antroy Arreola, an attorney to Banks, told Bloomberg.

Duncan averaged 13.9 points and 9.1 rebounds in the 2014-15 regular season, but upped that to 17.9 points and 11.1 rebounds in the play-offs as the Spurs lost to the Los Angeles Clippers in the first round. Duncan came up with at least 21 points and 11 rebounds in four of the seven games.