Tim Duncan, not even close. 4 Championships where the system has always had him as the main focus. Consistently played through his entire career as a star, hasnt lost much of his game, contended for a championship and beasted last year in the finals (even though it was a close loss). If I were to rank them, it would probably go... Duncan Kobe Dirk KG Pierce Billups Ginobli KG and Dirk could be switched as well as Billups and Ginobli.
^I hate Manu, but that dude is definitely better than Billups. His uncanny ability to turn into a top 2 SG in playoff after playoff was incredible
Duncan's had the best career, obviously. Dirk's the best now. Nash and Allen should be mentioned if we're talking about Manu and Chauncey.
What's the point of this thread? Active or inactive? Wouldn't it be more pertinent to ask the questions: Which team with an active HOFer 35+ y/o is doing better? Or which team with an inactive HOFer 35+ y/o is doing better? Being inactive or active isn't really pertinent to which future HOFer is the greatest. All it takes is one game for a player to switch from active to inactive or vice versa.
BTW Kobe is inactive. I suppose you should rephrase your question to: Which future HOFer in the NBA today 35+ yo is the greatest?
Duncan by a landslide. The dude is only expending about 60% of his energy every game because how solid the team is around him. If it weren't for that he'd be averaging even bigger double-doubles than he is now. I hate the Spurs.
Even though Ginobili is not the best of them,watching him is just so much fun. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lwCJrS67NsA Also Prime Ginobili>>>>>>>>>>>>Harden
When you consider their career as a whole Billups isn't even that good is he? He won a playoff MVP but his career started off slow and he's finishing off weak.
If you consider their entire body of work (championships) then I think you have to say Kobe with Duncan second and 'Witzke third. And I can't say I personally admire Kobe in any way except for his competitiveness on the basketball court. If Kobe comes back from his current injuries to play anything like he used to play then he might have a claim on MJ's title of GOAT. Also, I would suspect he had sold his soul to the devil. Well, really, I already suspect that.
His window of excellence was relatively short but I also think it's underestimated how incredibly good that window was. The ranklist of career accumulated win shares for point guards with 5+ assists per game looks like this. Stockton Robertson Magic Payton Kidd Nash Billups Frazier Porter Paul It's not shabby company for career accomplishment.
