For me, I have to say Duncan. The most incredible stat is that in 19 seasons, Tim Duncan made the playoffs....19 times. That's absolutely insane.
San Antonio Spurs Tim Duncan announced his retirement today, weeks after the end of the NBA season. The complete opposite of Kobe Bryant who announced he would not return to the NBA in 2016-17 way back before the AllStar game.
Regardless of how they did it, neither superstar will be back. So I ask you, basketball fans and sports fans in general, which of these two sure fire Hall of Fame players had the better career?
Offer your opinions below, and /or check out this very link that shows you some of the bare bone head to head stats between these two ballets.
http://www.landofbasketball.com/play...tim_duncan.htm
Bottleneckers (12/16 in 2022)
16 team, points only. G: 2-W, 4-SO.
Top 9F, 4D & 1G . Keep 15, Max 23
F: J. Robertson, J. Hughes, Tavares, Lafreniere, Cozens, Newhook, Teravainen, Domi, R. Strome, Laine, Rossi, Raymond, Holtz, Perfetti
D: Bouchard, McAvoy, Morrissey, Heiskanen
G: Vasilevskiy
For me, I have to say Duncan. The most incredible stat is that in 19 seasons, Tim Duncan made the playoffs....19 times. That's absolutely insane.
Tim Duncan is arguably the greatest two way player of all time. I have only seen two players that I would rank ahead of him on my all time list and Kobe isn't one of them.
Gotta go with Duncan. Points wise - Bryant obviously.
But the intangibles that Duncan brought game in-game out for 19 years. By all accounts he was a no frills, no maintenance player. He did whatever he was asked to do when he was asked to do it because he trusted his coach & his only goal was to win championships. he would put his ego aside, he was a Spur first, basketball player second.
No one ever heard about off court issues, contract disputes - anything like this. All this should and needs to be taken into account when looking at Duncan.
Follow me on twitter: @doylelb4
Hmmm. I think it’s tougher than what has been laid out above. In their primes, and I’m building my own team like a fantasy draft, I’d want Kobe. Duncan is the BEST PF ever. But, when running an offense, I rather a guy like Kobe. Kobe can play more dynamic positions, and runs the offense. It’s a Curry/Lebron debate in my head. Curry as a PG is better than Lebron. But Lebron is better at every other position, and he’s not far behind at PG. I rather the versatility.
Who had the better career tho…. I don’t think its clear cut; both have had their huge positives. The coolest stat out of Duncan’s career is he’s one of 4 players EVER to win Playoff MVP, League MVP, Rookie of the Year, and went 1st overall.
Off-court antics aside, I’m going with Kobe. Kobe has so many records it’s insane. His achievements have their own Wiki Page that’s how many there are.
He’s a 12 time All-Defensive Team selection, that’s so many for a player who is remembered for offense first, and defense second. Duncan has 15 I do believe.
12 Team, H2H, Keep 6 (in Bold)
G, A, Pts, PPP, FW, SOG, Hits, Blocks
W, Saves, S%, GAA, Game Started
2C, 2LW, 2RW, 4D, 1Util, 2G, 5BN, 2IR, 1IR+, 1NA
C: Horvat, Trocheck
LW: J. Robertson, Byfield (C), Guenther
RW: Pavelski (C), Giroux (C), Svechnikov (LW)
D: Fox, Makar, Bouchard, Morrissey, Gudas
Util: Meier (LW, RW)
G: Oettinger, Georgiev, Samsonov, Woll