How is Tim Duncan not a top 4 player of all time?

[NBASTATMAN]

players that were definitely better than duncan imo:

1. jordan
2. russell
3. magic
4. wilt
5. kareem

after that its up for debate. i go back and forth on duncan or bird in the next spot. i just watched about 150 bird games on dvd. kind of forgot just how insanely good bird was.

it really depends on what you value. to you value longevity over peak? defense over scoring? post play or wing play? etc....

i usually settle on:

6. bird
7. duncan
8. shaq
9. hakeem
those are the best guys and are pretty locked in imo. i don't see anyone currently playing surpassing any of those guys for me except maybe lebron.

GINO how can you put Duncan over Hakeem.. Oh my .. The world has to be coming to an end. Polar shift must be messing with some peoples minds..

[ginobli2311]

GINO how can you put Duncan over Hakeem.. Oh my .. The world has to be coming to an end. Polar shift must be messing with some peoples minds..

i watched both of their entire careers. i simply think duncan was a slightly better overall player.

its personal preference. please don't act like hakeem was clearly superior to duncan. i'm down for debating it with you, but if you come into the discussion with some absurd notion that its not debatable, then its your mind that has been messed with.

[Eat Like A Bosh]

Michael Jordan
Kareem Adul Jabbar
Bill Russell
Magic Johnson
Larry Bird

As great as he is, There is simply not enough room in the top 5 for Duncan. He is in the top 10 all time though.
If Kobe wins #6 this year, than he can pretty much be put above Shaq and Duncan on everyone's lists, and squeezing Duncan outta the top 10.

[AAckley1]

Half the league tanked to get him in 97'

4 rings. 3 finals MVPs. 2 League MVP. 98' ROY. Every Collegiate POY awards in 97'

13 all-stars. 9 1st Team All-NBA. 3 2nd Team All-NBA. 1 3rd Team All-NBA (and probably another this year)


The reason I think TD doesn't get a lot of credit is the simplicity of his game. He rarely puts himself in situations where he can't get out, and I think thats what impresses me the most with Duncan. Opponents know exactly what he's trying to do. Exactly what he wants to do, and yet, he still does it. He's the best PF ever and you can't even question it. He's the 2nd best Post-Jordan era player and is just an all around good guy.

Theres something to be said about a guy who knew he would of been a Top 5 pick after his sophomore year as well as knew about the new rookie pay scale being put into effect and still staying in school. He has played for one of the smallest market teams in the NBA his whole career and never once have you heard disgruntlement, request for trades, or even his contract getting into its final season.

I look at players in my figurative Top 10 of All Time and think of it like this, would I have wanted to sit down and have a beer with them? Tim Duncan passes that test with flying colors.

[SCdac]

Just the fact that he's easily "one of the best big men of all time" is good with me, certainly the best power-forward to play the game. I don't get caught up in rankings too much, they're more outlines than absolutes, clearly. So many different opinions, many valid. What's tricky for me is, some of Tim Duncan's best qualities are intangible. Humility, leadership, strong work ethic, unaffected in losses, etc, people conveniently leave these kinds of things out of rankings, probably because they're not on paper, and TD has been in a small sports market his whole career (less attention). Not only that, but for the majority of his career he's been a model of consistency (nicknamed "Groundhog Day" for a reason). His offensive repertoire is not limited to post ups either, he's routinely taken jumpers and bank shots, faced up and put the ball on the floor, etc (more so in in his physical prime). In his rookie season, he averaged 21.1 points, when the league average was 95 points per game, and he started all 82 games. In the '99 Finals, he averaged 27.4 PPG of the Spurs low-scoring 84 points per contest. That's impressive, let alone the fact he put up 22.2 PPG almost a decade later in the 2007 championship run (w/ 3.1 blocks a game).

[PHILA]

GINO how can you put Duncan over Hakeem.. Oh my .. The world has to be coming to an end. Polar shift must be messing with some peoples minds..

Comparable peak with far greater team success. By the standard most fans have in ranking players this should be no contest

[Hawker]

keep tellin yourself I cant argue 5 other pfs ahead of him

I'm agreeing with you dumbass. It's a fact he's a top 5 pf.

[ILLsmak]

i watched both of their entire careers. i simply think duncan was a slightly better overall player.

its personal preference. please don't act like hakeem was clearly superior to duncan. i'm down for debating it with you, but if you come into the discussion with some absurd notion that its not debatable, then its your mind that has been messed with.

We all know both sides of the argument, but I'm still saying Shaq and Hakeem over Duncan.

-Smak

[MooseJuiceBowen]

We all know both sides of the argument, but I'm still saying Shaq and Hakeem over Duncan.

-Smak

duncan was a better teamate then shaq

better defender

better passer

better shooter

better LEADER

better REBOUNDER

better SHOT BLOCKER

what was shaq?? real ****ing dominant

the ending of the story has yet to be told for both players.

[MooseJuiceBowen]

prove me wrong. game 6 of 02-03 wcf, game 7 vs the pistons he sure as hell wasn't the best player on his team.

not even gonna waste my time with this pathetic statement that duncan isnt good in the playoffs

[ginobli2311]

We all know both sides of the argument, but I'm still saying Shaq and Hakeem over Duncan.

-Smak

cool. i disagree, but its personal preference for that tier of bird/duncan/shaq/hakeem in my opinion.

its very close between all of them and we could make arguments all day.

[MooseJuiceBowen]

when timmy gets his 5th ring you will have to put him in the top 5 or at 6

[SCdac]

We all know both sides of the argument, but I'm still saying Shaq and Hakeem over Duncan.

-Smak

It's all about how you see it...

Elliot Kalb, "Mr. Stats" (longtime NBA statistician for ABC, worked with Bill Walton, Bob Costas, so many more. His notes were often the backbone and foundation of the broadcasts) assuredly knows more about basketball than any of us... and even his rankings would probably find critics. He wrote a book called "Who's Better, Who's Best in Basketball", and he ranks Shaquille O'Neal as the greatest of all time (Wilt 2nd, Jordan 3rd), Tim Duncan 9th, and Hakeem Olajuwon 16th. It's all a matter of perspective, and typically on ISH it's the "boxscore perspective". Greatness is subjective and rankings aren't as written in stone as some want to believe.

[NBASTATMAN]

i watched both of their entire careers. i simply think duncan was a slightly better overall player.

its personal preference. please don't act like hakeem was clearly superior to duncan. i'm down for debating it with you, but if you come into the discussion with some absurd notion that its not debatable, then its your mind that has been messed with.

If you say that Duncan had the better career than I would agree with you. If you say that Duncan is on par as a player than I would say your wrong and wouldn't argue cuz I don't think its even an argument.. Both MJ AND KOBE think Hakeem is the best Low post player they have ever see play.. Robert horry says Hakeem is the best he has played with over shaq and duncan..



Maybe its just me remembering what Hakeem did to the Knicks in 94.. I don't know but I do know Duncan would have never gotten close to doing what Hakeem did at his best..

[chazzy]

when timmy gets his 5th ring you will have to put him in the top 5 or at 6

How much of a ranking boost would a potential 5th ring do for him though? He's still good, but not a top 10 player in the league.