Last year, we had the “Who’s the best player of the last decade” debate. The results were confusing to me. Allen Iverson got a lot of votes, but didn’t win. Shaq got dozens of tallies because he was considered the most dominant player during the Lakers’ three-peat,but from 2007-2009, Shaq really didn’t do anything to make you think he’s the man he once was. This left Tim Duncan and Kobe Bryant. My thinking: Tim Duncan should win easily, 4 titles, impacted the Spurs and was the man from day one. Who won? Kobe Bryant. One year later, I have a problem with this.
For one, what makes Kobe the best in the past decade? Is it the fact that LeBron’s the new guy to hate, which made Kobe the savvy veteran that’s cool to cheer again? Should we ignore the fact he couldn’t win 50 games without a superstar next to him? I’ll be the first one to say it: I respect Kobe’s game BUT the person seems lame to me. For one, the whole “Look at his roster without Shaq” argument is tough for me ( we’ll get to that later), the fact he only won 2 titles as a the main option and has quit on his team in the past, demanded a trade AND did a LeBron-esque decision in 2004 annoys me. I’m not a Kobe hater, but I ask: Whenever fans discuss LeBron, we get this overall “aura” about him, which make people dislike him. For one, we hate the fact he made his choice to leave Cleveland, we hate the fact he feels entitled to call him self “King” and we as the media/blogsphere, always say ” LeBron doesn’t have as many rings as Kobe. Kobe’s better then LeBron because: He has more rings.” Is that even fair? For LeBron haters, it is but I ask you: Before he’s move to Miami, who w as LeBron’s best teammate in Cleveland? Anderson Verejao? Mo Williams? Ricky Davis? It’s unfair to me how we ATTACK LeBron for his recent laspes in judgment yet, Kobe gets a pass for all he’s done.
Now, my argument about his teammates. It actually compares to me to the Chicago Bulls in the year and a half Jordan left. During that year, Scottie Pippen turned from this 2nd option, defensive player to a 1st option who put up points and did everything for that team. Who did Pippen have to defer to? (In order of ppg per game in 1993-1994) Horace Grant, B.J. Armstrong, Toni Kukoc and Steve Kerr. Your thinking: They must have won what? 35-40 games? No, this team won 55 games AND one in the first round without Jordan, injury issues in the frontline AND Steve Kerr as the 5th man. Here’s Kobe’s supporting cast from 2004 to 2007
2005: Caron Butler, Lamar Odom, Chucky Atkins and Chris Mihm
2006: Lamar Odom, Smush Parker, Chris Mihm and Brian Cook
2007: Lamar Odom, Luke Walton, Smush Parker and Andrew Bynum
I guess I ask you this: If Pippen could pull 55 wins from the main 4 guys he had, how come Kobe couldn’t pull these guys to better then what he did? I just feel Kobe couldn’t evolve himself into what Pippen did. Pippen made sure he could get his teammates involved because he knew he could get 20-25 points with ease at the time. Throw in the fact Pippen usually guarded the best wing player. Kobe really couldn’t make players better back then. Why? Some of it was Kobe’s feel to be the man but it was also, he didn’t trust his teammates. I’m not saying any of those players I listed above were great, but you still have to explain to me how Kobe couldn’t push this team to 50 wins for me.
This is where Tim Duncan comes in. I’m not discounting the fact Duncan had David Robinson for the first six seasons of his career but I’d argue Tim Duncan was the man on that team from 1998 on. They never missed the playoffs with Duncan under the helm and I’d argue, Duncan never had a superstar next to him. When the Lakers won 3 titles in a row, it was Kobe and Shaq. Two top 15 players in NBA history. What if Duncan had someone like Ray Allen in 2003? Might they have won 2 titles in a row? 3 titles? Duncan instead, had Stephen Jackson ( I’m not saying he’s terrible, but there is a difference between Jackson and Ray Allen in 2003), 2nd year Tony Parker ( who San Antonio had so much faith in, they throw a contract offer to Jason Kidd the year after they won the title), Sean Elliot, David Robinson ( on his last legs), Glenn Robinson and 26 year old rookie Manu Ginobili for most of his title winning years.
I ask you: Why doesn’t Duncan get enough credit for being pretty much the oak tree in the NBA park? When the Spurs need 40, he got 40. When the Spurs need him to defend, he defended pretty well. Even this season, Duncan has lost almost all of his athleticism, yet he’s still having some big games (20-10-6 vs Phoenix, 28-16-4 vs Denver). Why? Because that’s what the Spurs need from him that night. There are nights that he struggles but more times then not, Duncan has came through. Let’s go back to the original question: Why does Duncan get little to no love? Promotion. Tim Duncan never promoted himself. He never went out of his way to be funny, or crazy. In the era where guys promoted shoes, Duncan promoted winning. As fans, we never got comfortable with Duncan because, we felt as if we didn’t know him.
To me, Tim Duncan is the best player of the 2000’s and it wasn’t even close to me.