It's between Duncan and Shaq. Sorry Kobe homies he's not in the discussion. The way I break it down between the two is simple. Who has captivated other teams and made them design the entire game plan around him? The answer is Shaq. Duncan is consistent but he very very rarely puts his team on his shoulders and just dominants the whole game. He's a good leader but he will get you 20-10 and that's it he will never go for 40 or almost single handily win you the game like Shaq did up until this season and last. The other and much smaller factor is Shaq won championships on two different teams with two different coaches and completely different rosters. When making a tough decision sometimes you have to get nit picky and this is one of those things. Duncan is a very good player and great leader but I have always thought he is a little overrated. He is in the perfect situation. The Spurs drafted him, got a coach who has a system perfect for him, and then surrounded him with players that are great compliment's. Now who deserves the most credit? Duncan, the GM, or the coach? No one can be 100 percent sure. This is why I wouldn't have any bones about someone saying Garnett is the real PF for this generation. Garnett may very well be the better individual player he just didn't fall into a perfect situation and had one of the worst GM's. Meanwhile Shaq as we all know wasn't in a perfect situation in LA but still won championships.
Hes saying that when brought up the statement that Kobe won a ring, guys like Parker and Billups played a bigger role.
lol parker and billups played a bigger role in winning rings than kobe? wow only cause shaq was at his prime years and media focused on him and overshadowed kobe, how many times has kobe carried the lakers down teh stretch in the playoffs? with or without shaq? to say parker and billups played a bigger role is like saying mike james was the key for rockets to be in the play offs
parker and billups did not play a bigger role. they just didn't have to share the ball with a dominant force like shaq. kobe did and he did it well. not to mention he basically carried his team EVERY 4th QUARTER because oh... SHAQ COULDNT HIT A DAMN FREE THROW. seriously... it's like these guys don't even watch games.
Shaq played enough games in 2000-01 and 2004-05 to win the award. Those two years the most glaring to me, and where I do agree with the premise of his dominance being taken for granted. When take a players dominance for granted, it makes it easier to appreciate and glamorize what Iverson(2001) and Nash(2005) did for those teams. While worthy candidates, I don't think any single player had the "value" Shaq did - not only representing his value to the team, but impact on the league. No player could shift the balance of power amongst teams/conferences the way Shaq did.
I wonder if you did if you think Shaq wasn't the centerpiece. Heck, Hakeem often didn't take the big shots for the Rockets, often it was Max, Kenny, Horry, Elie. But it was because of Hakeem the Rockets were in a position to win and why those guys were open. Further, do you remember the Pistons series? This was a few years post Shaq's peak but they decided they would just play strait up man rather than help on Shaq and leave other shooters. Shaq was a beast against the DPOY, Kobe however shot sub-40% and was basically a non-factor except like a 2 minute span in game 2. One could make a very legitimate claim you could sub in another all-star SG (Tmac, Carter, AI, Allen, Pierce?) for Kobe on those teams and the Laker's still get 2-3 titles and 2-4 appearences. But try subbing another all-star center not named Shaq in that Laker squad and they get 0 and 0. I agree with all your sentiments. I agree with most your sentiments. Except Duncan is at most mildly overrated. He has clearly been the next best player. IMO KG, much like David Robinson, might be the equal regular season players of Shaq, Hakeem, and Duncan--but in the slow it down, more physical, half court brand of playoff basketball where legends are made, are a notch or two below. The whole thread is about POST-Jordan. I don't think Kareem and Wilt in their 50s and 60s can hang. KG, funny, and Gasol, hilarious. Bringing up Gasol is like bringing up that Glen Rice made the difference for the Lakers in 00. Good player and all, but get real.
KG has not been as successful or had the same numbers as Shaq. Gasol, who is that? I've never heard of any great players in the NBA named Gasol. You're going to have to show me this fellow...especially since he was in the same league as Shaq.
I like how Duncan went through both Shaq AND Bryant in '03 to win a championship and end the LA "dynasty". That should settle it.
wow...this is a no brainer...got to be kobe... the others don't even compare statistically---they're not even fun to watch game to game... but it's kinda funny lebron doesn't compare??
Shaq in his prime was way better and more dominant than kobe, because during the shaq-kobe years, a lot of teams were focus on shaq, making double team on him, instead of making double team on kobe. So I say is a Shaq vs Duncan match, with kobe on 3rd, but not close.
What's with all the kobe love? If he never played with Shaq he'd be lumped with Tmac. It's Duncan or Shaq. I lean more towards duncan b/c he's still doing his thing today.
shaq or duncan, i'd say duncan due to consistency. this is the first year kobe's been out of the first round. If not for this year, kobe=tmac.
