Rummpd
12-31-2009, 04:31 PM
http://insider.espn.go.com/nba/insider/columns/story?columnist=hollinger_john&page=PERDiem-091231
4. Shaquille O'Neal
I have some misgivings about putting him this low because of his astronomic peak value: For the first three years of the decade, he was one of the three greatest players in history. The rest of his decade, however, wasn't nearly as impressive.
He won another championship and made four more All-NBA first teams, but he wasn't as durable (missing at least 15 games six different times) or as consistent (loafing through his last year and a half in Miami) as the other players on this list. He should have been first, in other words, but I can't put him higher than fourth.
Bryant
3. Kobe Bryant
Bryant is unquestionably the most memorable player of this decade, not to mention the most watchable. He's not the best, though. He won one MVP award and four rings, but was only the lead dog on one of the championship teams, and in terms of PER he has more in common with Nowitzki than the other players in the top five.
Though it's been common to hear people say he's the best player in the league, thumb through his résumé and it's hard to pinpoint a single season in which you could prove that was true. Subjectively, one can also say he didn't understand how to constructively channel his insatiable competitiveness until the final two or three years of the decade.
That he outranks Shaq and all but two other players is a testament to his consistency -- including seven top-5 MVP finishes -- and tenacity. Few star guards have defended better, especially in big moments. He made the All-Defense team every year but one.
Garnett
2. Kevin Garnett
Unfairly lampooned for not leading a deeply flawed Minnesota team past the likes of L.A. and San Antonio, Garnett showed what he can do with some better help around him after he was traded to Boston. He led the league in PER in back-to-back seasons in Minnesota, but didn't get a single MVP vote the second year because his supporting cast was so bad.
In Boston, he proved his defensive dominance by leading one of the greatest defensive teams in history to a title. He made the All-Defense team every year of the decade, was a first-team pick eight times and won the defensive player of the year award in 2008; had he been traded to Boston a few years earlier he probably would have won the award a few more times.
Since I presume I'll need to defend this ranking to the larger world, I'll add two more facts. First, it will no doubt shock readers to learn that Garnett's career playoff PER is better than Bryant's and, in fact, ranks in the top 10 in post-merger history; his primary shortcoming in Minnesota wasn't a lack of mettle in the clutch, it was that he couldn't fire Kevin McHale. Second, recall that the one time this decade Garnett and Bryant met as the alpha males on their respective teams, Garnett's side rolled.
Duncan
1. Tim Duncan
Perhaps the unsexiest superstar in league history, Duncan proved monotonously, predictably, devastatingly effective while earning two MVPs, three championships, seven first-team All-NBA selections, seven first-team All-Defense nods, and seven top-5 MVP finishes. He won at least 53 games every year of the decade, and no player this decade won a title with anywhere near as little help as he had in 2003; only one teammate averaged more than a dozen points, 20-year-old Tony Parker at 15.5.
Duncan didn't have any stratospheric seasons, but he consistently played at an MVP level the entire decade. For several players above I recounted how many MVP-contender seasons they had; in Duncan's case, it was all of them. Nobody writes flowing prose about him because of how he played, but there's only one choice for Player of the Decade.
[You can argue about 2-4 but there is NO DOUBT Duncan ruled the decade as not only the best at his position but the best of all.]
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4. Shaquille O'Neal
I have some misgivings about putting him this low because of his astronomic peak value: For the first three years of the decade, he was one of the three greatest players in history. The rest of his decade, however, wasn't nearly as impressive.
He won another championship and made four more All-NBA first teams, but he wasn't as durable (missing at least 15 games six different times) or as consistent (loafing through his last year and a half in Miami) as the other players on this list. He should have been first, in other words, but I can't put him higher than fourth.
Bryant
3. Kobe Bryant
Bryant is unquestionably the most memorable player of this decade, not to mention the most watchable. He's not the best, though. He won one MVP award and four rings, but was only the lead dog on one of the championship teams, and in terms of PER he has more in common with Nowitzki than the other players in the top five.
Though it's been common to hear people say he's the best player in the league, thumb through his résumé and it's hard to pinpoint a single season in which you could prove that was true. Subjectively, one can also say he didn't understand how to constructively channel his insatiable competitiveness until the final two or three years of the decade.
That he outranks Shaq and all but two other players is a testament to his consistency -- including seven top-5 MVP finishes -- and tenacity. Few star guards have defended better, especially in big moments. He made the All-Defense team every year but one.
Garnett
2. Kevin Garnett
Unfairly lampooned for not leading a deeply flawed Minnesota team past the likes of L.A. and San Antonio, Garnett showed what he can do with some better help around him after he was traded to Boston. He led the league in PER in back-to-back seasons in Minnesota, but didn't get a single MVP vote the second year because his supporting cast was so bad.
In Boston, he proved his defensive dominance by leading one of the greatest defensive teams in history to a title. He made the All-Defense team every year of the decade, was a first-team pick eight times and won the defensive player of the year award in 2008; had he been traded to Boston a few years earlier he probably would have won the award a few more times.
Since I presume I'll need to defend this ranking to the larger world, I'll add two more facts. First, it will no doubt shock readers to learn that Garnett's career playoff PER is better than Bryant's and, in fact, ranks in the top 10 in post-merger history; his primary shortcoming in Minnesota wasn't a lack of mettle in the clutch, it was that he couldn't fire Kevin McHale. Second, recall that the one time this decade Garnett and Bryant met as the alpha males on their respective teams, Garnett's side rolled.
Duncan
1. Tim Duncan
Perhaps the unsexiest superstar in league history, Duncan proved monotonously, predictably, devastatingly effective while earning two MVPs, three championships, seven first-team All-NBA selections, seven first-team All-Defense nods, and seven top-5 MVP finishes. He won at least 53 games every year of the decade, and no player this decade won a title with anywhere near as little help as he had in 2003; only one teammate averaged more than a dozen points, 20-year-old Tony Parker at 15.5.
Duncan didn't have any stratospheric seasons, but he consistently played at an MVP level the entire decade. For several players above I recounted how many MVP-contender seasons they had; in Duncan's case, it was all of them. Nobody writes flowing prose about him because of how he played, but there's only one choice for Player of the Decade.
[You can argue about 2-4 but there is NO DOUBT Duncan ruled the decade as not only the best at his position but the best of all.]
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