How ever good you think Duncan is.....

[Horse]

He's even better. To think that he got in the best shape of his life, centered his game more around his jumper and taking bigger players off the dribble, and still rebounds and plays D like he does it just amazing. If he wins #5 I think it puts him top 5 all-time. Here's to you Timmy one bad MOFO!:flag:

[sananspursfan21]

Top 5 sounds pretty swell but i dont know thats stiff competition.

Theoretically thatd be:
Jordan
Lebron (haha just playin) X
Bird
Chamberlain
Russell
Duncan?

W/o being bias i dont quite see it playing out right now however i consider him top 10, fair enough?

[timvp]

^A championship and Duncan > Wilt and Bird, tbh

He already has a case, fwiw.

[CitizenDwayne]

Top 5 sounds pretty swell but i dont know thats stiff competition.

Theoretically thatd be:
Jordan
Lebron (haha just playin) X
Bird
Chamberlain
Russell
Duncan?

W/o being bias i dont quite see it playing out right now however i consider him top 10, fair enough?
No Lew Alcindor? No Magic?

[FkLA]

Yeah hed be Top 5 but I doubt it hed be recognized as such. Similar to how right now media retards consider Kobe better than him which is ridiculous tbh.

[sananspursfan21]

No Lew Alcindor? No Magic?

Yah i suppose you could interchange kareemo and magic with chamberlain and possibly russell

[Mark in Austin]

I'm amazed at how little coverage his physical conditioning has received even locally. His body looks a whole lot different than even last year. Just as lean but definitely more defined and muscular.

Duncan took it up a notch this offseason. And it shows.

[VBM]

He needs two more rings to be a no-questions-asked top 5 guy. Jordan, Magic, Kareem, Wilt and Russell seem to have the current 5 on lock.

[FromWayDowntown]

As an aside, tonight Tim Duncan plays in his 180th playoff game, breaking the tie he's now in with Michael Jordan and moving into a tie with Dennis Johnson for 14th place all-time in that category (ABA and NBA playoff games combined).

[Horse]

Top 5 sounds pretty swell but i dont know thats stiff competition.

Theoretically thatd be:
Jordan
Lebron (haha just playin) X
Bird
Chamberlain
Russell
Duncan?

W/o being bias i dont quite see it playing out right now however i consider him top 10, fair enough?
Top 10 is fair although I have him ahead of bird and I love bird. He just continues to amaze, like the way he took the younger,bigger, stronger bynum to school after we lost to them. And he's just a step ahead of these young guns trying to take his spot.

[sananspursfan21]

Top 10 is fair although I have him ahead of bird and I love bird. He just continues to amaze, like the way he took the younger,bigger, stronger bynum to school after we lost to them. And he's just a step ahead of these young guns trying to take his spot.

Yea im reconsidering bird now you gotta understand i grew up with bird propoganda from the white power nba fans lol. TD may have to be considered top 5 barring championship, now question is, where in the top 5?

[Horse]

Yea im reconsidering bird now you gotta understand i grew up with bird propoganda from the white power nba fans lol. TD may have to be considered top 5 barring championship, now question is, where in the top 5?
I do understand. When I think of it theres just not that many players who were so dominant on both sides of the ball and multiple rings. russell didn't have much offense, shaq had no D. Was bird or magic ever considered great defenders? Not to mention his passing. I mean how many huge 3's came off of a perfect pass out of TD being doubled.

[sananspursfan21]

I do understand. When I think of it theres just not that many players who were so dominant on both sides of the ball and multiple rings. russell didn't have much offense, shaq had no D. Was bird or magic ever considered great defenders? Not to mention his passing. I mean how many huge 3's came off of a perfect pass out of TD being doubled.

I think bird was a fair defender on the perimeter, might have been bonner-esque in the post. I just hate narrowing down only 5 players though you know? Through this thread i think we've all proven just how difficult it is

[sananspursfan21]

And TD was an exceptional passer especially for his size. Both in terms of skill and unselfishness

[TD 21]

^A championship and Duncan > Wilt and Bird, tbh

He already has a case, fwiw.

As impressive as it'd be for a myriad of reasons, should one more championship really be the determining factor, when we've got more than enough information to formulate opinions to begin with? I already have him top five, so one more championship isn't really going to change anything.

I said the same with Nowitzki last season. I had him as the fifth best PF of all time before winning a championship and I have him fifth after winning a championship, because he didn't suddenly become any greater. And even though I don't foresee Bryant winning a sixth, let's just say for a second he does. I'm still putting him behind Duncan, O'Neal, Olajuwon, etc. They were all superior players, no matter how many times he get's dragged to a ring by having the most dominant player/combination of bigs on his team.

[sananspursfan21]

As impressive as it'd be for a myriad of reasons, should one more championship really be the determining factor, when we've got more than enough information to formulate opinions to begin with? I already have him top five, so one more championship isn't really going to change anything.

I said the same with Nowitzki last season. I had him as the fifth best PF of all time before winning a championship and I have him fifth after winning a championship, because he didn't suddenly become any greater. And even though I don't foresee Bryant winning a sixth, let's just say for a second he does. I'm still putting him behind Duncan, O'Neal, Olajuwon, etc. They were all superior players, no matter how many times he get's dragged to a ring by having the most dominant player/combination of bigs on his team.

Thats a good point. If championships were the biggest deciding factor, one could argue that bill russell is THE greatest. And Robert Horry would have to receive considerations for a top 20 spot all time. Karl Malone never won it and obviously, he ranks very high among GOAT's

[tesseractive]

Thats a good point. If championships were the biggest deciding factor, one could argue that bill russell is THE greatest. And Robert Horry would have to receive considerations for a top 20 spot all time. Karl Malone never won it and obviously, he ranks very high among GOAT's

How good you are on a championship team is a huge factor though -- Horry was never remotely close to being the best player on a championship team. And there are absolutely arguments in favor of Russell as GOAT, though most people take Jordan. Russell was a monster on the court that completely changed the game defensively.

Likewise, Malone was a tremendous player, but the lack of rings is the biggest thing that keeps him out Top 10 discussions for a lot of people.

[VBM]

As impressive as it'd be for a myriad of reasons, should one more championship really be the determining factor...I'm still putting him behind Duncan, O'Neal, Olajuwon, etc. They were all superior players, no matter how many times he get's dragged to a ring by having the most dominant player/combination of bigs on his team.

What is your reasoning for putting Duncan over Hakeem?

Note: Just assuming you have him over Hakeem if Duncan's in your top 5

[StoneBuddha]

Likewise, Malone was a tremendous player, but the lack of rings is the biggest thing that keeps him out Top 10 discussions for a lot of people.

Choking in the finals and being so "unclutch" also don't help Malone's case.

[tesseractive]

Choking in the finals and being so "unclutch" also don't help Malone's case.

Perhaps I should have said the deserved lack of rings?

[TampaDude]

Magic has 5 rings and put up 30 triple-doubles in the playoffs in his career...that's just insane.

That said, Tim Duncan is right up there as far as best players go. :toast

[Em-City]

Yeah, gotta put Hakeem up there

[skulls138]

I like TD because he plays D, rebounds and scores on a consistent, game to game basis. He concentrates harder on ALL of the responsibilities he has as a post player than the other greats. In that way combined with the results they brought with the championships, I think he's the best bigman of my generation. I cant comment on Russel or Chamberlin or a young Jabbar.

Olajuwon is a bad ass too.

[TD 21]

What is your reasoning for putting Duncan over Hakeem?

Note: Just assuming you have him over Hakeem if Duncan's in your top 5

I've seen both play (a lot more of Duncan, though -- and that's probably an understatement), I've looked at a lot of the numbers and honestly, I just think he's a slightly better player.

Olajuwon might have been a slightly better scorer (even that I'm not 100% sold on, because people seem to forget, but young/prime Duncan could drop 30 pretty much whenever he needed to, he was just more unselfish), but he's slightly overrated from what he did in the '94 and '95 playoffs.

[shorttotry]

"Tim Duncan wasn't born. He was manufactured." - coolest bartender ever

[8FOR!3]

I don't really care about public opinion on Duncan. I know what I think about him and I know what true Spurs fans think about him. 99% of the world likely takes Michael Jordan if they have the option to pick any player in the history of the sport. Maybe I'm crazy for saying it but I'll take Tim Duncan with the #1 pick of any draft. Talent, size, character, he's an incredible natural athlete in the first place and he's gifted. But I'll take a hard worker who's a fundamentalist over that any day. What makes Tim Duncan special is that he's all of those things.

[shorttotry]

I don't really care about public opinion on Duncan. I know what I think about him and I know what true Spurs fans think about him. 99% of the world likely takes Michael Jordan if they have the option to pick any player in the history of the sport. Maybe I'm crazy for saying it but I'll take Tim Duncan with the #1 pick of any draft. Talent, size, character, he's an incredible natural athlete in the first place and he's gifted. But I'll take a hard worker who's a fundamentalist over that any day. What makes Tim Duncan special is that he's all of those things.

:tu You're just missing the point that he also makes his teammates better way more than Jordan did. I guess that gets filed under the character point you made as well. I know I'm biased, but I don't think one could argue against that.

[Kool Bob Love]

I don't really care about public opinion on Duncan. I know what I think about him and I know what true Spurs fans think about him. 99% of the world likely takes Michael Jordan if they have the option to pick any player in the history of the sport. Maybe I'm crazy for saying it but I'll take Tim Duncan with the #1 pick of any draft. Talent, size, character, he's an incredible natural athlete in the first place and he's gifted. But I'll take a hard worker who's a fundamentalist over that any day. What makes Tim Duncan special is that he's all of those things.

I feel the same way. :toast

[Arcadian]

I've had Tim in my top 5 since 2003 (his best year). Mine are Wilt, Kareem, Jordan, Duncan, and Shaq.