Tim is leagues ahead of Garnett

[TDfan2007]

Elliot Kalb, the author of "Who's Better, Who's Best In Basketball", had ranked Tim at # 9 in his 2003 book and Garnett at # 40. I e-mailed him a week ago and asked him who he thought was better now after Garnett had his breakout MVP year.

This was his answer:

In the book, I had Duncan #9 all-time (second among active players to
Shaq). Garnett was #40. Since then, Garnett won the MVP and led his
team to the Western Finals.
I happened to be in San Antonio last week to work ESPN's game
between
Garnett's Timberwolves and Duncan's Spurs. I also worked for TNT the
game between those teams on December 23. Those two games made me
rethink how I would reevaluate Duncan and Garnett.
Not much. I had pretty darn good foresight. Duncan is one of the
top
ten players of all time. Garnett is a top-50 talent, but he hasn't
moved up all that much. Maybe he's in the low 30s, now, at best. He
is no closer to making a single appearance in the NBA Finals.
Kevin Garnett and Peyton Manning can do wonderful things on the
court,
but until they show they can win a title--or get to the final
round--they can't be considered with the truly elite.