Included in my All-Star Media Day Notebook was a section about how impressed Chris Bosh has been with Tim Duncan’s longevity throughout his 17-plus NBA seasons.

“He’s Tim Duncan. He’s the greatest of all-time. Him being able to transform his game, I don’t really know how he’s done it,” Bosh said Friday afternoon. “Every time you think he’s done playing, he’s an All-Star the next year. I don’t think I’m going to be able to do that. His commitment to the team and what he’s done with his body to make sure that he can continue to play and have longevity is truly amazing.”

Reflecting on what Bosh had to say about Duncan, who he admired on his road to the NBA, it occurred to me that he isn’t giving himself enough credit.

Duncan, who will turn 39 in April, made his 15th All-Star appearance on Sunday night at Madison Square Garden, having missed the showcase just three times -- including two lockout seasons.  Bosh will turn 31 in a little more than a month and already has 10 All-Star appearances to his credit.

The All-Star Game is relatively meaningless over the long-term. All-NBA, All-Defensive Team selections and championships are much more important to a player’s legacy than All-Star appearances, but to consistently be among the top few dozen players in the league is impressive nonetheless.

There are always a few players that sneak into the All-Star Game, or are snubbed, but the subjective nature of voting (both fans and coaches) lends itself to that. Bosh and Duncan, however, have been two of the most consistently great big men in this generation of the NBA.

Duncan has averaged more than 20 points and 10 rebounds nine times, most recently in 2006-07. Bosh has surpassed those averages on three occasions over a four-year span from 06-07 to 09-10.

Bosh isn’t in the same class as Duncan, widely considered the greatest power forward of all-time, but that doesn’t mean Bosh won’t have the same longevity. Duncan is an unquestioned first-ballot Hall of Famer and Bosh is on pace to enter Springfield with ease as well.

In his 12th season, Bosh is averaging 21.1 points and 7.0 rebounds. He has been aided statistically by LeBron James’ departure, but in a vacuum he’s producing at an elite level in the second half of his career. Duncan put up 19.3 points and 10.7 rebounds in his 12th season (08-09). He has not surpassed those scoring or rebounding averages in any of the five-plus seasons since.

Duncan has remained relevant by accepting that he’s getting older, using what advantages he has against opponents effectively and playing under Gregg Popovich, who understands how to keep his big man rested and motivated.

The most remarkable aspect of Duncan’s longevity is that he has been able to remain a traditional back-to-the-basket post player in an era of stretch bigs. He has attempted more than 10 threes just once in his last 10 full seasons. His rate of two-point field goal attempts has actually increased in each of the last three seasons.

Duncan’s main adjustment as he approaches 40 has been staying closer to the basket, which is a fixture of San Antonio’s excellent spacing and ball movement. His average shot attempt has come from just seven feet in 14-15, the second-closest distance of his career. He has consistently gotten closer to the basket since the start of the 11-12 season.

Positioning closer to the basket has also allowed Duncan to remain a threat on the glass. His offensive rebounding percentage this season is 9.6, just a tick below his career mark of 9.8%.

Bosh is talented in his own right, but doesn’t possess the same big man skill set as Duncan. His slight frame isn’t nearly the determent it was early in his career, but he still isn’t able to use his girth as Duncan does to back down a defender. There is no reason to believe Bosh won’t be able to remain effective as he approaches his mid-to-late thirties because he has already evolved as a player.

Through the first 10 years of Bosh’s career, he scored more like a traditional big man than he has in his last two seasons with the Miami Heat. Part of that was a result of Bosh playing center early in his time with the Toronto Raptors, but he has also developed a three-point shot.

Bosh, once obsessed with averaging 20 and 10, has prioritized championships and efficiency over putting up big numbers, which will extend his window as an elite player.

After taking 8.2% of his attempts from three during the 12-13 season, then a career-high, Bosh made a calculated effort to extend his range. More than 22% of his attempts have come from deep this season and last and his percentages have increased in turn. His success rate has gone from .284 to .339 to .375 since the fall of 2012.

He’s enjoyed that improvement without taking full advantage of the corner three. Just 11.9% percent of his attempts have come from the corner, where he hits 35%. Bosh’s three-point shot is still relatively new and there is certainly room for another few steps forward.

As you might expect, Bosh’s offensive rebounding rates have decreased as he finds a home further from the basket. His ORB% is a career-low 3.7; nearly a third what it was in his final season with the Raptors.

Bosh is following in the footsteps of Rasheed Wallace and Kevin Garnett as recent big men that moved further away from the basket rather than closer as they aged.

Wallace, who played in 16 seasons and always had an affinity for the three, extended his range outside earlier Bosh or Garnett and as he aged the percentage of his attempts that came from deep increased sharply. During the 04-05 season, at age 30, Wallace attempted 22.2% of his shots from three. The very next season that figure jumped to 40.7% and in his final three years at least 44% of his attempts came from three.

He was inconsistent from three in the first half of his career, but as he approached his thirties he started to find his stroke. Wallace’s three-point shooting was a bit of a lightning rod in the pre-Twitter days, but he still hit 34.2% of his attempts over his final 10 seasons. He’s a drastic representation of the path Bosh recently embarked on.

Garnett, who shares Bosh’s thinner frame and has used a strong mid-range game to his advantage since he came into the league at 19, has been slowly moving outside since the 04-05 season. Garnett, however, remains wary of the three-point line. It hasn’t kept him from being effective into his late thirties, but developing a respectable three certainly wouldn’t have hurt the KG currently playing for the Nets.

He attempted more threes in the first half of his career, topping out at 116 in 01-02 (35 more than in any other season), but has launched just 63 since leaving Minnesota in 2007. He’s a career 27.6% shooter from three.

From age 28 to 30, Garnett’s average attempt moved from 9.8 feet to 11.8 feet out. This season, he’s shooting further away from the basket than ever before. His average look comes from 13.7 feet out.

Over that same age span, Bosh has seen an even more drastic change. While he and KG favored the same average distance before they turned thirty, Bosh has pushed himself out three whole feet from age 28 to 30. He’s followed KG’s blueprint and literally taken it a step or two further.

Comparing Bosh and Duncan is apples and oranges, especially given how special Duncan has been for nearly two decades. Duncan is the G.O.A.T., but that doesn’t mean Bosh can’t enjoy the same longevity.

Bosh has more than enough time to pad his individual and team accomplishments. The Heat will have the cap space during Bosh’s contract to build a contender, which could give him a third or fourth ring. Playing in the Eastern Conference also means he’ll make a few more All-Star teams from now until his next chance at free agency in 2019.

He claims to be less self-conscious than he was in the early stages of his career, but in his 12th season Chris Bosh remains overly critical of himself. He doesn’t think he’ll have the longevity of Tim Duncan, but he’s already begun setting himself up to do so.