They have in the league for about the same time. Who do you think will go down as a greater player? Duncan: 4 championship -has taken two different set of spurs teams to the finals -3 time finals -2xNBA MVP -11 time all-nba all-defensive team -only player in NBA history to receive All-NBA and All-Defensive honors in his first nine seasons Kobe: 3 Champion Ships 1x MVP 10x all star 2-time NBA Scoring Champion (2006, 2007) 5x All-NBA First Team 1xAll-NBA Second Team All-NBA Third Team 6x All-Defensive First Team 2x All-Defensive Second Team \
Duncan for sure. Since the Spurs drafted him, they have had the highest winning % in all US professional sports. The Spurs have never had a bad team since Duncan has been there and were basically two plays away from going to two more Finals (Fisher's shot, Manu's dumb foul on Dirk). Not to mention Duncan won all of his titles as option #1 and Kobe has yet to do that. And the roster that he won it with in 03 wasn't that talented. It's between him and Shaq for the best player post Jordan award....
pretty interesting question. imo i would go with duncan he has been the man who lead those spurs teams (except for the last one) to the titles and has a much better all around career. I would also pick him in his prime because its easier to build a team around a big man. Kobe may go down though in the eyes of the media and hence most casual fans as the "better" player since he is the most prolific scorer since jordan ruled the league. not to take anything away from kobe of course, but i believe i would have to go with duncan
Mr. Fundamental. Not a single doubt in my mind. He might be the most boring basketball player ever, but he straight gets it done every night.
Media answer is Kobe since the Spurs are boring to watch... I say Duncan. Kobe is amazing, but Duncan goes down as the better player overall. From the standpoint of building a team, you go with Duncan since big men are easier to build around than guards. From a ownership standpoint, you go with Kobe because Kobe will rake in the dough. The point of the NBA is to make money after all...the owners don't run a charity service here.
If Duncan was on the Fakers or the Knicks and winning those championships he would prolly be considered one of the top three players of all time.
duncan wins championships, shaq wins championships, kobe wins with the help of rare players like them.
Better defender than Jordan though... But anyway, right now it has to be Duncan. Has to be. That might change by the end of Kobe's career, though.
good point but a little overstated IMO. top 3? even playing in NY or LA people would still recognize the usual suspects (magic, jordan, bird, russell, wilt, shaq). my vote in this poll still goes to duncan but i also give a lot of credit to the great teams build around him. if only hakeem would've been so lucky.
If they retire right now, Duncan. But I have a feel Kobe will win a couple of championships before he's through. When all's said and done, I think it will be Kobe.
league/media priorities: Lakers: check Celtics Jordan Years from now casual fans will tell their grandkids how Kobe dropped 81. That was the easy part. Its harder to say who i think is better. I don't think you can just measure accomplishments because Kobe, not being a big or a PG, plays a position that is not nearly as "important" to winning games. Of course you take Duncan over Kobe in his prime, that's not saying much. How many SG's would you take over him anyway?
Tim Duncan for sure. He steps up his play big time both offensively and defensively in the postseason.
