If Lebron james is the best Player of His Generation, who's the 2nd Best?
- Thread starter Dreamzeedream
- Start date
Trece
Superstar
You were 5 in 03,
If you are in high school, you have no real basketball opinion. You are just a Bron stan and you need to worry about passing your driving test.
to me Duncan at no point was ever the clear cut best player in the league. He was just more consistent. KG was always the better player and if he was playing in Pop system he would have won just as much while being more dominant. There, I said it.
Sean312
Banned
crazy it could have been rose smh 
Just leave out that Duncan is 31-21 against Kobe in the regular season - which covers their whole careers, not just those years when Kobe had stacked teams.
Kobe averaged 24-5-5 on 42% shooting, Duncan at 19-11-3 with 2 blocks/game on 45% shooting.
Kobe's playoff averages against Duncan were 28-6-5 with a steal a game.
Duncan's playoff averages against Kobe were 25-14-4 with a steal and 2 blocks a game.
Kobe was never "straight up killing San Antonio". Duncan and Shaq were ALWAYS the focus on the offense and defense for both teams. You think Pop went into games scheming about how to stop Kobe, or about how to stop Shaq? Kobe took a ton of shots against the Spurs (averaged 24 shots/game) because he was the one Pop wanted taking shots over Shaq. Meanwhile, Duncan didn't have a Shaq to keep the pressure off of him - most of those years the Spurs only had 1 all-star on the team besides Duncan...must less the best player in the league.
Duncan won four championships right through the middle of Kobe's prime: 1999, 2003, 2005, and 2007. Kobe was age 20-28 during that run. If he was such a Spurs-killer, then he should have been able to stop them a few more times...but he didn't win his 1st championship as the main guy until Duncan was 32 years old.
1999: Duncan was the only all-NBA on the Spurs that year. (No all-star game.)
2003: Duncan was the only all-star on the Spurs that year.
2005: Duncan and Ginobli were the only all-stars on the Spurs that year. Only Duncan All-NBA.
2007: Duncan and Parker were the only all-stars on the Spurs that year. Only Duncan All-NBA.
2014: Duncan and Parker were the only all-stars on the Spurs that year.
I love how the lying trolls contradict themselves in the same thread.
On page 1 of the thread, the supposedly educated brother claims that Duncan's a fraud because he hasn't scored over 20.0ppg since 2005.
Then on page 2, he calls 2008 Duncan's "prime". Duncan's prime was 1997-2005 (when he was making 1st-team All-NBA). He was very good from 2006-2015, but it wasn't his prime. Are we going to start claiming that Duncan had a 13-year-long "prime" now?
EBB also claims that 36-year-old Bowen, 34-year-old Finley, 37-year-old Horry, 35-year-old Thomas, and 36-year-old Brent Barry were all in their primes.
Both Kobe and Duncan balled out that series. Kobe was guarded the whole time by a 36-year-old ready-to-retire Bruce Bowen and feasted. Duncan put up ridiculous stat lines, but that was the year his supporting cast aged out (Bowen, Finley, Barry, Horry all ready to retire, yet Bowen and Finley starting and Barry was their #4 scorer). And Ginobli had a shyt series because he had a bad ligament injury that required surgery after the season.. Parker should have feasted against Fisher but laid an egg the first two games. I give Kobe credit for shooting well in that series, but it doesn't define their careers.
Some of the lines Duncan put up in the series:
30-18-2-2-4
22-21-5
29-17-3-3-3
19-15-10
truth hurts
In years with Shaq
in 2004 Lakers 4-2
Kobe 26.3. | 6.3 | 5.8
Shaq 22.5 | 14.3 | 2.0
Duncan 20.7 | 12.2 | 3.3
in 2002 Lakers Won 4-1
Kobe 26.2 | 5.4 | 4.8
Shaq 21.2 |12.3 | 3.2
Duncan 29.0 | 17.0 | 3.2
in 2001 Lakers Won 4-0
Kobe 33.3 | 7.0 | 7.1
Shaq 27.3 | 13.0 | 3.2
Duncan 23.2 |12.4 | 3.1
Truth Hurts. Kobe was better than Duncan in every metric you can use.
In Kobe's childhood, Duncan/Shaq were two giants going head to head while Pop let Kobe shoot all he wanted because that was way better than Shaq shooting 60% and fouling out half his team. (Which is how Kobe ended up with lines like 26 points on 30 shots, 32 points on 31 shots, 31 points on 31 shots, 37 points on 38 shots, etc....). Kobestans just scream, "Look, Kobe got 44 points!", while Pop says, "Yeah, when Shaq is on the other side of the court, I don't mind your shooting guard taking 41 shots to get 44 points with 7 turnovers thrown in.
In the end, the Lakers got the Spurs 3 to 2 in that six-year stretch where the two teams split 5 championships (hardly "domination"), but Shaq was always the main force, not Kobe. Kobestans loving Kobe's 30+ points when he got them by volume shooting while Shaq was drawing the entire focus of the Spurs' defense. Kobe averaged 28ppg on 24 shots (shooting 46%) against the Spurs as the Lakers' second option during those years.
to me Duncan at no point was ever the clear cut best player in the league. He was just more consistent. KG was always the better player and if he was playing in Pop system he would have won just as much while being more dominant. There, I said it.
1998: #5 in MVP voting
1999: #3 in MVP voting, Finals MVP
2000: #5 in MVP voting
2001: #2 in MVP voting
2002: #1 in MVP voting
2003: #1 in MVP voting, Finals MVP
2004: #2 in MVP voting
2005: #4 in MVP voting, Finals MVP
That's a sick run. When was the last time anyone not named "Lebron" or "Jordan" had a MVP-run like what Duncan did in 2001-2004?
The answer to the OP's question is Duncan.
You want to count accolades?
Three-time All-American
AP, Wooden, and Naismith Player of the Year
Rookie of the Year
15 All-NBA teams (1st all-time), including 10 years 1st-team All-NBA (3rd all-time)
15 All-Defensive teams (1st all-time), including 8 years 1st-team All-Defense (5th all-time) - and he deserved his
15 All-Star appearances (2nd all-time), including an All-Star MVP
2 MVPs (9th all-time), 2 runner-up finishes, 9 times in the top-5 in voting and 12 times in the top-8
You want to count postseason success?
241 playoff games (3rd all-time)
5th all-time in playoff scoring, 3rd all-time in playoff rebounds, 1st all-time in playoff blocks
6 NBA Finals appearances, including 5 championships
3 Finals MVPs (2nd all-time)
You want to count traditional statistics?
2nd in NBA in points scored in 2002, 14th in scoring in NBA history
Top-10 in NBA in FG% six times
Led NBA in rebounds in 2002, top-5 in rebounds 11 times, 6th in rebounds in NBA history
2nd in NBA in blocks in 2003, top-5 in blocks 7 times and top-10 in blocks 15 times, 5th in blocks in NBA history
You want to count advanced stats?
2nd in NBA in PER three times, top-5 in PER 9 times and top-10 in PER 13 times, 13th in PER in NBA history
Led NBA in defensive rating 4 times, top-4 in defensive rating 15 times, 2nd in defensive rating in NBA history
Led NBA in win shares twice, top-4 in win shares 8 times, 6th in win shares in NBA history
You want to count accolades?
Three-time All-American
AP, Wooden, and Naismith Player of the Year
Rookie of the Year
15 All-NBA teams (1st all-time), including 10 years 1st-team All-NBA (3rd all-time)
15 All-Defensive teams (1st all-time), including 8 years 1st-team All-Defense (5th all-time) - and he deserved his
15 All-Star appearances (2nd all-time), including an All-Star MVP
2 MVPs (9th all-time), 2 runner-up finishes, 9 times in the top-5 in voting and 12 times in the top-8
You want to count postseason success?
241 playoff games (3rd all-time)
5th all-time in playoff scoring, 3rd all-time in playoff rebounds, 1st all-time in playoff blocks
6 NBA Finals appearances, including 5 championships
3 Finals MVPs (2nd all-time)
You want to count traditional statistics?
2nd in NBA in points scored in 2002, 14th in scoring in NBA history
Top-10 in NBA in FG% six times
Led NBA in rebounds in 2002, top-5 in rebounds 11 times, 6th in rebounds in NBA history
2nd in NBA in blocks in 2003, top-5 in blocks 7 times and top-10 in blocks 15 times, 5th in blocks in NBA history
You want to count advanced stats?
2nd in NBA in PER three times, top-5 in PER 9 times and top-10 in PER 13 times, 13th in PER in NBA history
Led NBA in defensive rating 4 times, top-4 in defensive rating 15 times, 2nd in defensive rating in NBA history
Led NBA in win shares twice, top-4 in win shares 8 times, 6th in win shares in NBA history
Just leave out that Duncan is 31-21 against Kobe in the regular season - which covers their whole careers, not just those years when Kobe had stacked teams.
Kobe averaged 24-5-5 on 42% shooting, Duncan at 19-11-3 with 2 blocks/game on 45% shooting.
Kobe's playoff averages against Duncan were 28-6-5 with a steal a game.
Duncan's playoff averages against Kobe were 25-14-4 with a steal and 2 blocks a game.
Kobe was never "straight up killing San Antonio". Duncan and Shaq were ALWAYS the focus on the offense and defense for both teams. You think Pop went into games scheming about how to stop Kobe, or about how to stop Shaq? Kobe took a ton of shots against the Spurs (averaged 24 shots/game) because he was the one Pop wanted taking shots over Shaq. Meanwhile, Duncan didn't have a Shaq to keep the pressure off of him - most of those years the Spurs only had 1 all-star on the team besides Duncan...must less the best player in the league.
Duncan won four championships right through the middle of Kobe's prime: 1999, 2003, 2005, and 2007. Kobe was age 20-28 during that run. If he was such a Spurs-killer, then he should have been able to stop them a few more times...but he didn't win his 1st championship as the main guy until Duncan was 32 years old.
1999: Duncan was the only all-NBA on the Spurs that year. (No all-star game.)
2003: Duncan was the only all-star on the Spurs that year.
2005: Duncan and Ginobli were the only all-stars on the Spurs that year. Only Duncan All-NBA.
2007: Duncan and Parker were the only all-stars on the Spurs that year. Only Duncan All-NBA.
2014: Duncan and Parker were the only all-stars on the Spurs that year.
I love how the lying trolls contradict themselves in the same thread.
On page 1 of the thread, the supposedly educated brother claims that Duncan's a fraud because he hasn't scored over 20.0ppg since 2005.
Then on page 2, he calls 2008 Duncan's "prime". Duncan's prime was 1997-2005 (when he was making 1st-team All-NBA). He was very good from 2006-2015, but it wasn't his prime. Are we going to start claiming that Duncan had a 13-year-long "prime" now?
EBB also claims that 36-year-old Bowen, 34-year-old Finley, 37-year-old Horry, 35-year-old Thomas, and 36-year-old Brent Barry were all in their primes.
Both Kobe and Duncan balled out that series. Kobe was guarded the whole time by a 36-year-old ready-to-retire Bruce Bowen and feasted. Duncan put up ridiculous stat lines, but that was the year his supporting cast aged out (Bowen, Finley, Barry, Horry all ready to retire, yet Bowen and Finley starting and Barry was their #4 scorer). And Ginobli had a shyt series because he had a bad ligament injury that required surgery after the season.. Parker should have feasted against Fisher but laid an egg the first two games. I give Kobe credit for shooting well in that series, but it doesn't define their careers.
Some of the lines Duncan put up in the series:
30-18-2-2-4
22-21-5
29-17-3-3-3
19-15-10
In Kobe's childhood, Duncan/Shaq were two giants going head to head while Pop let Kobe shoot all he wanted because that was way better than Shaq shooting 60% and fouling out half his team. (Which is how Kobe ended up with lines like 26 points on 30 shots, 32 points on 31 shots, 31 points on 31 shots, 37 points on 38 shots, etc....). Kobestans just scream, "Look, Kobe got 44 points!", while Pop says, "Yeah, when Shaq is on the other side of the court, I don't mind your shooting guard taking 41 shots to get 44 points with 7 turnovers thrown in.
In the end, the Lakers got the Spurs 3 to 2 in that six-year stretch where the two teams split 5 championships (hardly "domination"), but Shaq was always the main force, not Kobe. Kobestans loving Kobe's 30+ points when he got them by volume shooting while Shaq was drawing the entire focus of the Spurs' defense. Kobe averaged 28ppg on 24 shots (shooting 46%) against the Spurs as the Lakers' second option during those years.
1998: #5 in MVP voting
1999: #3 in MVP voting, Finals MVP
2000: #5 in MVP voting
2001: #2 in MVP voting
2002: #1 in MVP voting
2003: #1 in MVP voting, Finals MVP
2004: #2 in MVP voting
2005: #4 in MVP voting, Finals MVP
That's a sick run. When was the last time anyone not named "Lebron" or "Jordan" had a MVP-run like what Duncan did in 2001-2004?
Bring back reps
Just leave out that Duncan is 31-21 against Kobe in the regular season - which covers their whole careers, not just those years when Kobe had stacked teams.
Kobe averaged 24-5-5 on 42% shooting, Duncan at 19-11-3 with 2 blocks/game on 45% shooting.
Kobe's playoff averages against Duncan were 28-6-5 with a steal a game.
Duncan's playoff averages against Kobe were 25-14-4 with a steal and 2 blocks a game.
Kobe was never "straight up killing San Antonio". Duncan and Shaq were ALWAYS the focus on the offense and defense for both teams. You think Pop went into games scheming about how to stop Kobe, or about how to stop Shaq? Kobe took a ton of shots against the Spurs (averaged 24 shots/game) because he was the one Pop wanted taking shots over Shaq. Meanwhile, Duncan didn't have a Shaq to keep the pressure off of him - most of those years the Spurs only had 1 all-star on the team besides Duncan...must less the best player in the league.
Duncan won four championships right through the middle of Kobe's prime: 1999, 2003, 2005, and 2007. Kobe was age 20-28 during that run. If he was such a Spurs-killer, then he should have been able to stop them a few more times...but he didn't win his 1st championship as the main guy until Duncan was 32 years old.
1999: Duncan was the only all-NBA on the Spurs that year. (No all-star game.)
2003: Duncan was the only all-star on the Spurs that year.
2005: Duncan and Ginobli were the only all-stars on the Spurs that year. Only Duncan All-NBA.
2007: Duncan and Parker were the only all-stars on the Spurs that year. Only Duncan All-NBA.
2014: Duncan and Parker were the only all-stars on the Spurs that year.
I love how the lying trolls contradict themselves in the same thread.
On page 1 of the thread, the supposedly educated brother claims that Duncan's a fraud because he hasn't scored over 20.0ppg since 2005.
Then on page 2, he calls 2008 Duncan's "prime". Duncan's prime was 1997-2005 (when he was making 1st-team All-NBA). He was very good from 2006-2015, but it wasn't his prime. Are we going to start claiming that Duncan had a 13-year-long "prime" now?
EBB also claims that 36-year-old Bowen, 34-year-old Finley, 37-year-old Horry, 35-year-old Thomas, and 36-year-old Brent Barry were all in their primes.
Both Kobe and Duncan balled out that series. Kobe was guarded the whole time by a 36-year-old ready-to-retire Bruce Bowen and feasted. Duncan put up ridiculous stat lines, but that was the year his supporting cast aged out (Bowen, Finley, Barry, Horry all ready to retire, yet Bowen and Finley starting and Barry was their #4 scorer). And Ginobli had a shyt series because he had a bad ligament injury that required surgery after the season.. Parker should have feasted against Fisher but laid an egg the first two games. I give Kobe credit for shooting well in that series, but it doesn't define their careers.
Some of the lines Duncan put up in the series:
30-18-2-2-4
22-21-5
29-17-3-3-3
19-15-10
In Kobe's childhood, Duncan/Shaq were two giants going head to head while Pop let Kobe shoot all he wanted because that was way better than Shaq shooting 60% and fouling out half his team. (Which is how Kobe ended up with lines like 26 points on 30 shots, 32 points on 31 shots, 31 points on 31 shots, 37 points on 38 shots, etc....). Kobestans just scream, "Look, Kobe got 44 points!", while Pop says, "Yeah, when Shaq is on the other side of the court, I don't mind your shooting guard taking 41 shots to get 44 points with 7 turnovers thrown in.
In the end, the Lakers got the Spurs 3 to 2 in that six-year stretch where the two teams split 5 championships (hardly "domination"), but Shaq was always the main force, not Kobe. Kobestans loving Kobe's 30+ points when he got them by volume shooting while Shaq was drawing the entire focus of the Spurs' defense. Kobe averaged 28ppg on 24 shots (shooting 46%) against the Spurs as the Lakers' second option during those years.
1998: #5 in MVP voting
1999: #3 in MVP voting, Finals MVP
2000: #5 in MVP voting
2001: #2 in MVP voting
2002: #1 in MVP voting
2003: #1 in MVP voting, Finals MVP
2004: #2 in MVP voting
2005: #4 in MVP voting, Finals MVP
That's a sick run. When was the last time anyone not named "Lebron" or "Jordan" had a MVP-run like what Duncan did in 2001-2004?
Ducan fans come up with the most ridiculous bullshyt all the time
Ducan fans come up with the most ridiculous bullshyt all the time
What qualifies me as a "Duncan fan" other than my acknowledgement that Duncan is a great player?
What qualifies me as a "Duncan fan" other than my acknowledgement that Duncan is a great player?
amount of bullshyt you were spittin
He was 2/6 I thought.
L's to Spurs twice, mavs and warriors. Two wins against OKC and ray Allen bailing him out against spurs.
stepbackj34spud
Top 75 All-Time
LeBron has been the best player in the league since 2007.. Kobe stans are the absolute fukking worse.
stepbackj34spud
Top 75 All-Time
1x MVP Kobe Bryant was the best player in the league from 2004-2010?
High quality poster
Veteran
1x MVP Kobe Bryant was the best player in the league from 2004-2010?
2x MVP Steph Curry currently being exposed
Lol at using Mvps