I'm going to have to disagree. The Spurs have had some great teams over the last 10 years. Those players are not HOF (Parker, Ginobili, Barry and Finley), but are certainly all-star worthy or borderline players, also add in the fact that the Spurs are probably one of the best coached teams in the league. I have to contend that, if you replace Duncan with top 10 all time great in their prime (MJ, Magic, Wilt, Bird, Dream, Shaq, Kareem, Big O, and etc). In this decade, I believe that team would still win about 4 to 7 titles. It would not drop off that much and in fact be a consistent powerhouse in the West, most likely. That team would still have defense, that could possibly be better depending on the player or have more impactful player on offense. That's how good the Spurs were in this decade.
That isn't true because Shaq would be in foul trouble much earlier and more often, thus preventing him from bowling over people.
There were a lot of calls he didn't get, although I still agree that he dished out a lot more than he took.
Duncan. Shaq 'dominated' in a really weak era for centers, and definitely got the benefit of the calls, no matter what people try to say on here. That's like saying Jordan and Kobe didn't get superstar treatment from the refs. The Lakers and Heat got the calls, too. Do you believe the Spurs did? The Spurs? Yeah, Stern went out of his way to make them the champs... So yeah, I'll go with the one who had to win it himself, not with help.
I beg to differ. I think he got a high percentage of the calls that were fouls. Also, let's not forget about the shuffling of the feet when he's under the basket. The guy didn't have the skill to be a smoother center so he forced himself, fouling and traveling, to get a dunk.
Well if you're talking about better basketball player, then its Shaq no question. If Duncan had played at the C position he'd just be another HOF C...certainly not the greatest PF of all time. However if you're actually looking to win games then its got to be Duncan, the guy's just the definition of a team player. He's low maintenance, and because of his personality you can bring another player in and there won't be an ego clash (like what happened between Shaq and Kobe). He has no weaknesses either, so its pretty easy to build around him. Overall in terms of being a better player my vote will go to Shaq, but if I'm starting a franchise there's very few people I'd take over Duncan.
what do you mean lol? Shaq got mugged all the time and so much, I was surprised he didn't go berserk and started ending careers left and right. If refs called a foul everytime other guys put both their forearms on shaq the whole game would come to a standstill and opponent's team would be out of big men by the 2nd quarter. Just look at how frustrated DH or Yao Ming get during games every time they get hit and it wasn't called, then remember that Shaq was way more dominant than those guys where. He probably got mugged 2x more then these guys combined.
This is just flat out wrong. Yeah, sometimes he shuffled his feet. This is the NBA we're talking about. Every star player has gotten away with traveling throughout their careers. Go back and watch MJ, he shuffled his feet. Go back and watch Hakeem, sometimes that pivot foot came off the floor just a bit. To say that Shaq lacked the skill to be smooth is just ignorant. He is one of the most skilled post players in NBA history.
Which is why Duncan is the better player. Seriously, Shaq is more talented, no question, but when it comes to using both talent and skill, Duncan is comparable to Kobe at his position. Shaq is great, but you can't say he is a better player then Duncan, when more well rounded guys like Hakeem in his prime and Yao when healthy, have regularly dominated him.
You can say that Shaq is a better player when Shaq regularly dominated Duncan and his teams during his prime. Also, when has Yao ever dominated Shaq? I know he's had some good games, but dominated? And even if that were true, we're talking about a past his prime Shaq. Hakeem dominated everyone, so that's not worth mentioning. He would have dominated Duncan as well.
Then why didn't Duncan won three championships in a row? Why the less dominant player won three finals MVP in a row? How come no team has ever topped that 16-1 playoff run by the Lakers whose best player was Shaq the Diesel?
Shaq wasn't in his prime yet when his team was dominated by the Rockets in the finals. And when has Yao dominated him? One regular season game maybe. Shaq had dominated the league in an era.
Of course it is Shaq!! Because there hasn't ever been a player who dominated in such a physical way both ends of the court. TD however was/is a great finesse player- there have been many great finesse players.
