ESPN’s revered author/analyst Zach Lowe rekindled an previous, controversial debate – who was higher: Kobe Bryant or Tim Duncan?
It began with referencing ESPN’s new checklist of the highest 100 athletes of the twenty first century. Duncan, drafted in 1997 and retired in 2016, was positioned sixteenth behind LeBron James, Stephen Curry and Bryant amongst NBA gamers, however put one spot in entrance of Shaquille O’Neal.
“I’m not able to do the Tim Duncan factor simply but, however I believe [Duncan] and [O’Neal] have gotten probably the most chronically underrated gamers in all of those prime no matter discussions…”
Hear, hear.
Duncan’s accomplishments had been listed, after which minutes later, Lowe mentioned, “I’ve been fairly laborious on the island of rating him above Kobe [Bryant] all time. I believe he’s in all probability nearer to the 6-8 vary than the 12-14 vary.”
So, who was higher?
It’s laborious to go improper with selecting an order for these three. They every produced on the prime degree and obtained it completed because the man. The Diesel’s peak was better than all, however his powers deserted him first. The Black Mamba was as expert as any participant who lived however was tough to be round. And TD grew to become a made man earlier than the remainder and was elite on each ends till he retired, however he wasn’t on the identical degree as scorer scorer.
With all the present debate happening about this matter, I believed I’d rank them myself, with the size set by affect and management (usually neglected qualities past stats and sheet athleticism). Let’s assessment.
3. Kobe Bryant
The Black Mamba didn’t present up as a rookie lighting the world up regardless of his insistence that he might. At age 18, he was skinny, emotionally unready and performed selfishly. That’s why the Los Angeles Lakers introduced again Byron Scott to mentor Bryant.
However he was arguably a celebrity in 12 months 4. That 12 months’s Playoff moments that proved it had been breaking down Jason Kidd, hitting a double-clutched, game-winning jumper on the left aspect in Recreation 2 in spherical two, and taking up in time beyond regulation of Recreation 4 of the Finals at Indiana. Within the latter, Bryant scored six of his eight factors when O’Neal fouled out to guide the Lakers to a W and 3-1 collection lead.
He recorded loads of different heroic moments and completed with 5 championships, together with back-to-back wins in 2009 and 2010, notably with out O’Neal and because the major possibility on the staff.
Offensively, Bryant had a good deal with, an explosive first step and deep vary however his greatest bodily asset was his footwork. His pivoting expertise had been as sharp as any participant in historical past, permitting him to age gracefully earlier than tearing his Achilles tendon in April of 2013. He might flip over both shoulder for a protracted jumper, again down smaller gamers for nearer photographs or swivel previous them.
Moreover, he was a high-level athlete, which made him an above-the-rim risk and he was a helpful playmaker.
On protection, Bryant might blow up actions on the perimeter and had good serving to instincts.
His capability to compartmentalize was irregular. Whereas charged with sexual assault in 2003, he was going through life in jail, flying to court docket hearings on recreation days, getting booed in each space however Staples Heart, and was nonetheless enjoying after the Lakers had privately mentioned providing him a go away of absence. Expenses in opposition to Bryant had been dropped as a result of Jane Doe didn’t wish to testify. On the civil aspect, he settled along with her for an unknown quantity and acquired her a house.
He was additionally a workhouse, ending within the prime 5 in minutes registered on six events.
His weak point on offense was his tunnel imaginative and prescient, which led to poor shot choice. In consequence, many teammates resented his ego and decision-making. On protection, it was masking the submit, as stronger and longer gamers might beat him by going to the physique. And he might chunk on fakes, a lot to educate Phil Jackson’s displeasure.
One other flaw was his incapability to attach with teammates early. Jeff Pearlman reported in his e-book Three Ring Circus: Kobe, Shaq, Phil and the Loopy Years of the Lakers Dynasty that “Not one of the Lakers had ever visited his home, and most had by no means even shared a couple of or two meals.”
At different moments, Bryant’s actions had been venomous in direction of his teammates. His coach additionally defined that many apply classes changed into “one-on-one battles over manhood as a substitute of workouts in sharpening staff ideas.” He threw O’Neal underneath the bus with investigators and ran Jackson out of city, too. Then comically, when Rudy Tomjanovich was teaching the membership on the 2004 Christmas Day recreation, Bryant tried to run the “What the f-” play, a set generally utilized by Jackson and, earlier than him, Crimson Holzman and the Seventies New York Knicks. Jackson later returned after Tomjanovich’s resignation, and his relationship with Bryant improved.
As he matured, he developed into an on-court chief and was coach Mike Krzyzewski’s first alternative for the 2008 Group USA basketball roster, generally known as the Redeem Group, which efficiently went on the hunt for Gold after a bronze-winning debacle in 2004. Bryant is likely one of the biggest gamers in NBA historical past as a result of his peak made him one of the best on the planet for a time, and he was producing at a top-five price till he popped his Achilles in his seventeenth season.
2. Shaquille O’Neal
O’Neal was a 7-foot-1, 300-plus-pound large who usually refers to himself because the MDE (most dominant ever) since nobody might cease him with out assist at shut vary, and he usually beat a number of defenders. Wilt Chamberlain’s ghost is likely to be the one one complaining so far as offense is worried.
Within the submit, O’Neal had a reliable drop-step hook and he muscled previous males for dunks and layups. Nonetheless, when he touched the rock, on many events, defenses had been sending assist, requiring him to cross. He would look to attain on the return feed, after swinging the ball moved the protection.
Throughout a three-year span (2000-2002), he was the league’s premier participant as a result of his dimension, pace, and energy overmatched something in his path. He tried 21.2 makes an attempt per recreation and logged 55 p.c of efficient area targets, with 14.5 rebounds and a pair of.4 blocks through the Lakers’ three-peat within the Playoffs. His final nice season was his first with the Miami Warmth. He was second in MVP voting in 2004-05 as a 13-year participant, however nonetheless had three extra All-Star campaigns.
Since he devoured up shut protections, he had no use to increase his vary from the sphere. But, he was one of the vital poorly officiated gamers within the league, taking extra hits than ordinary and was continuously on the line. His free throw proportion was abysmal, however he did attempt to enhance at it usually, altering routines and even working with capturing coach Ed Palubinskas. His percentages had been raised coaching with Palubinskas, however the Lakers, cheaply, didn’t wish to pay the trainer a wage or give him a hoop in the event that they gained. O’Neal couldn’t keep his success. At any time when a short scorching streak started on the charity line, Jackson was satisfied it was luck.
Nevertheless, he didn’t care an excessive amount of about stopping the ball regardless of being a game-changing presence when he wished to be. He admitted himself, “I’ve at all times been an offensive participant. I’ve by no means been a defensive participant.”
His display screen roll protection was so insufficient that the Utah Jazz exploited him in a number of collection earlier than Jackson arrived, and later, going at O’Neal this manner was a method utilized by the San Antonio Spurs and Sacramento Kings.
Moreover, on display screen roll protection, Jackson wrote in his e-book, The Final Season: A Group in Search of its Soul, that the explanation the membership picked up Karl Malone and Gary Payton for the 2003-04 season was to cope with the Spurs’ display screen roll assault. The Silver and Black’s PNRs decimated the Lakers’ earlier season partly as a result of O’Neal sat behind the display screen. He additionally revealed he as soon as instructed him, “You’ve been right here for eight years and you continue to haven’t figured it out…”
It’s unclear what number of hours of sleep Jackson and the late Tex Winter misplaced over him getting focused, however one other difficulty was laziness. Jackson blamed him to a level for the Lakers not successful a championship as a result of he opted to have toe surgical procedure in September earlier than the 2002-03 season. As if he labored within the oil fields, O’Neal mentioned “I obtained harm on firm time, so I’ll get well on firm time.”
Since he didn’t maintain himself nicely, he stopped being the Diesel earlier than it was his time and ended his profession as a journeyman.
However, his spot within the Pantheon of NBA legends is safe. The best praise Jackson gave him was in his e-book. “I took this job for the chance to educate him, and he made it an expertise I’ll cherish perpetually. In an atmosphere that always turns into too severe, Shaq at all times made me giggle.” He made loads of teammates cackle, too, and was like an enormous brother to many.
1. Tim Duncan
The best Spur of all time gained 5 championships in three separate many years and retired as a extra impactful participant than Bryant and O’Neal, and had a better emotional intelligence from day one. Duncan was the cornerstone for 19 years, too, as a low submit and shot-blocking presence.
He was so dominant as a sophomore that broadcaster Doug Collins referred to as him the “most full participant within the recreation” throughout Recreation 2 of the 1999 Finals. It might’t be forgotten that the Spurs squad additionally swept the Lakers within the second spherical and, notably, Duncan outplayed O’Neal. The Lakers later swept the Spurs in 2000-01, eradicated them in 5 in 2001-02 and beat them in six in 2003-04.
He entered the league as a cultured combo massive after 4 excursions at Wake Forest and earned a First Group All-NBA choice in 12 months one on prime of the Rookie of the Yr crown .
On the assault, Duncan pivoted by means of and round defenders for baskets and dissected double groups with the cross. He might additionally hit the open mid-range jumper and, famously as soon as, related on a game-winning trifecta in opposition to the Phoenix Suns in spherical one of many 2008 Playoffs, his solely three of the season.
One match that sums up greatest how he might destroy opponents was Recreation 6 of the second spherical in 2003. He whooped Robert Horry and O’Neal so badly like they stole one thing, pulverizing them at shut vary and maneuvering previous the 2 as in the event that they had been caught in quicksand. The Spurs, led by TD and Tony Parker, shut the door on the Lakers’ dynasty at Staples Heart, leaving a few of the Purple and Mould weeping on the sidelines. If anybody is , this gem is out there on the league cross’ Basic Video games part.
The pick-and-roll units with Duncan and Parker had been as deadly as any two-man motion in NBA historical past.
As he aged, Duncan by no means averaged over 20 factors per recreation previous his tenth season, however he equipped the products in different areas and was nonetheless the principle scheme catcher. He saved the ball shifting, opened up avenues with screens and slowed down the opposite staff’s offense. On the second line of protection, TD was the terminator, inflicting cross outs and deflecting photographs at a excessive price. His mobility, wingspan (7-foot-5), and IQ made him a productive pick-and-roll disrupter as a result of he might hassle two without delay from the again.
The Spurs’ first championship got here in 1999, however the subsequent 4 had been between 2007 and 2014. Regardless of the Spurs by no means successful back-to-back titles, the group gained as many championships because the Golden State Warriors between 2015 and 2022, all with TD because the centerpiece.
Duncan is seventh and sixth all-time in rebounds and blocks for the common season, plus third and first in these classes for the Playoffs. Someway, he by no means gained Defensive Participant of the Yr.
But, he wasn’t excellent. He wasn’t nice on the line, making 69.6 p.c of freebies within the common season and 68.9 p.c within the Playoffs. Does anybody keep in mind the stress he put Spurs followers underneath whereas bricking 5 free throws in a nine-point loss in Recreation 6 of the 2005 Finals?
And he was such a whiner that Jackson cursed him as soon as throughout a recreation. He mentioned, “Tim, why don’t you simply play basketball and stop b******* on a regular basis? If you happen to wanna be a referee, get a f****** whistle and are available out and be a referee.”
After 19 years, Duncan completed his profession as a part of a second-round collapse to the third-seeded Oklahoma Metropolis Thunder, who had gained 12 much less video games. It was the best common season in Spurs historical past (2015-16), successful 67 outings. After the Recreation 6 loss, Duncan spoke on his future and was quoted within the San Antonio Specific-Information. “I’ll get to that after I get out of right here and determine life out.”
Recognizing the tip is tough for any participant, far more an iconic determine like Duncan, however he left behind an unassailable legacy. He’s superior to O’Neal and Bryant, plus he’s one of the best massive man ever behind Chamberlain, Invoice Russell and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.
