Who was Duncan's Greatest Rival over His Career?

[BillMc]

Over the course of his entire career who do you feel was/is Duncan's greatest rival?

Kobe Bryant (5 Titles Just Like Timmy)

Kevin Garnett (Same age, same position, mutual disdain for each other, their careers are always linked)

LeBron James (3 Finals meetings and counting)

Dirk Nowitzki (Instate rival, several epic playoff clashes)

Shaquille O'Neal (For nine years from '99 to 2007 either Shaq or Duncan was in every NBA Final. Greatest bigs of their era)

Amar'e Stoudemire (Spurs' rivalry with the "Seven Seconds or Less" Suns is legendary)

Someone else?

[xellos88330]

Shaq or Dirk imo. I would say Garnett too, but he never really met the Spurs too often in the post season. That is where rivalries are fueled.

[T Park]

Rasheed Wallace guarded him the best of any player I'd seen. Kurt Thomas second.

[TheGreatYacht]

EboK

[tenbeersbold]

Himself..because he never pushed PATFO enough to surround him w/ better talent

Tim should have at LEAST two more rings...

[cd98]

Shaq or Dirk imo. I would say Garnett too, but he never really met the Spurs too often in the post season. That is where rivalries are fueled.

This also because he actually guarded Shaq and Dirk at times. He never really guarded Kobe or Lebron except in switches on occasion. Amar'e never could guard Tim. Garnett was the 2nd best power forward during the Tim Duncan era.

[lefty]

Enrique

[Johnny RIngo]

Shaq or Dirk. Leaning a bit towards Dirk because of the epic series in 2006. If we had won, we would have seen Duncan vs Shaq in the Finals too.

[ironman2886]

Rasheed Wallace guarded him the best of any player I'd seen. Kurt Thomas second.
Kurt Thomas is the most underrated post defender in league history. You couldn't move the guy. He was a strong SOB.

[tmtcsc]

Shaq and its not even close. For whatever reason, Shaq was a boogie monster to Tim. Tim beat him three times (IIRC) but even when he should have been dominating O'Neal, he seemed to be respecting him too much for what he had done in the past. Taller players always give Tim a hard time.

[Brazil]

Manu playing for his NT

fify brah

[lefty]

fify brah
that too TBH

[Ginobili3]

Shaq Diesel. Then Kobe.

[Jenks]

LeBron James (3 Finals meetings and counting)
Same # as Magic and Bird

[Baynes]

dirk

[Random5843]

Tim's career is so long that he has Shaq as his greatest rival on the first half and Lebron on the second.

[SnakeBoy]

Shaq and its not even close. For whatever reason, Shaq was a boogie monster to Tim. Tim beat him three times (IIRC) but even when he should have been dominating O'Neal, he seemed to be respecting him too much for what he had done in the past. Taller players always give Tim a hard time.

lol might have had something to do with being one of (if not the) the most physically dominate players ever.

[cantthinkofanything]

Tim's career is so long that he has Shaq as his greatest rival on the first half and Lebron on the second.

I don't think of Lebron as much of a rival for some reason. I agree with Shaq and Dirk.

[Spurs21Fan4Ever]

Depends on what you're looking or, longest rival who competed for top spot since MJ? Easily Kobe Bryant. Those two have been around so long and next year will battle for #6. Shaq and Timmy had a few good battles though, and while Shaq claims he outscored Timmy everytime, we all know that isn't true. But you also have to consider Garnett, since he also played PF and they always battled for top PF spot which Duncan usually won quite easily. So it really depends on what you're looking for.

[baseline bum]

Easily Shaq

[poeticism707]

Stern, Silver,

and the Refs.

Per par.

Anyone who needs evidence,

see the 2012 WCF

against RefKC.

[Big Empty]

id have to say Shaq then Garnett then kobe.

[vagabundios]

Shaq for sure.

[superbigtime]

Cool thread. I'd say Shaqtus.

[florige]

I think Shaq as well. He used to guard Timmy perfect. I remember Timmy throwing all these different moves at Shaq and he was still knocking the ball out of his hands throwing him all out of wack. I remember thinking to myself how in the world is Shaq as old and slow as he is still managing to get to the ball the way he was.

[MilesTeg]

Wasn't Horry the one guarding Tim most of the time? Tim would guard Horry, and whoever was playing center would guard Shaq. Still, I voted for Shaq being the biggest rival.

[SnakeBoy]

Wasn't Horry the one guarding Tim most of the time? Tim would guard Horry, and whoever was playing center would guard Shaq. Still, I voted for Shaq being the biggest rival.

Hey don't be ruining our fake memories.

[Slydragon]

Amy

[Brunodf]

Father of time

[TheyCallMePro]

Shaq, no question. Remember, the league was DOMINATED by the Spurs and the Lakers from 1999-2005, and Shaq and Duncan were unquestionably the best players on both teams. Unfortunately, Shaq was an absolute beast and pretty much dominated the matchup (as he did with everyone else) but still, Duncan got him a few times and there were some epic battles along the way.

[G-Dawgg]

Easily Shaq. He and Duncan were the 2 best bigmen in the league (ever?) and thier team's playoff battles were epic.

[daslicer]

Shaq, no question. Remember, the league was DOMINATED by the Spurs and the Lakers from 1999-2005, and Shaq and Duncan were unquestionably the best players on both teams. Unfortunately, Shaq was an absolute beast and pretty much dominated the matchup (as he did with everyone else) but still, Duncan got him a few times and there were some epic battles along the way.

A lot of revisionist history here I wonder if you actually paid close attention to the spurs during those years. Duncan always cancelled out Shaq in those match ups. They were pretty much even statistically in the matchups. Duncan dropped 40 points on Shaq a few times during those years. I remember game 2 of WCF when Duncan lit him up badly in game where he scored 40 points that the Lakers started double teaming Duncan aggressively in the 4th quarter and daring the Spurs to hit open shots. Shaq did have his moments where he could guard Duncan for stretches but no way could he guard Duncan for a full game. They were pretty much even in the matchups.

[SpurPadre]

His ex-wife, tbh.

[dg7md]

I'd say Shaq, KG (the early comparisons and "rivalry" was intense), or Dirk. I don't really think LeBron or Kobe work as a rival because rivalries in basketball, to me, have to relate to the positions and if they are being guarded by that player or not.

But if I had to pick one, I'd say Dirk, probably. The Mavs/Spurs rivalry in the day was legendary and there were so many epic Dirk/Duncan duels throughout the season and postseason.

[james evans]

shaq, but somehow kobe fans have tried to rewrite history the past 15 years in some kobe vs duncan rivalry like shaq was some journeyman tag-along.

[Venti Quattro]

Stephen Jackson

[mowgli]

Man, I gotta go with Dirk. Of all his opponents, I still remember those tremendous in-state playoff battles in the '00s. Some games against Duncan and the Spurs, it seemed like Dirk just couldn't miss. It was always epic to see them matched up against one another.

Never really considered Kobe to be a true rival for Duncan since they didn't play the same position. Duncan owned Stoudemire, and Garnett was almost a playoff afterthought until he went to Boston. Shaq is worthy, but I was just never as fond of their matchups like I was for Dallas. Might just be a byproduct of living in Texas back then...

Lebron is a new breed of player in an era where these types of rivalries don't really seem to exist. I mean, if you think about, once more, it was Dirk and the Mavs that were the thorn in the side to this otherwise historic Spurs team. But still a testament to Duncan's longevity that his career spans peak Shaq to peak Lebron.

Cool thread bro! :toast

[aal04]

If timmy didnt get injured in early 2k, would have been good rivalry between Shaq and himself.

I think we all missed out on watching Prime TD vs Prime Shaq during the Lakers threepeat because career wise i would expect him to get something between 99 and 03, especially the way they played in 99 with Robinson. Injury really changed the way he played and succeeded

[Robz4000]

Shaq

[Old School 44]

KG early on, and also maybe a little Rasheed, but really no one after that. Shaq and Kobe just because of the ring counts, but not really rivals that went up against Tim individually. I don't even consider Dirk a rival to TD. I'm not saying that in a disrepectful way, he just didn't go up against TD head-to-head much. I consider Spurs/Lakers and Spurs/Mavs great team rivalries, but again no individual rivalry with TD on either club.

[100%duncan]

Voted for Shaq

[Skull-1]

Another player. Manu Ginobili. Denied him two, possibly three titles, *AND* a Gold Medal.

[phyzik]

Shaq or Dirk. KoMe is not even in the conversation.

[Dex]

Was torn between Dirk and Kobe.

Bean knocked Duncan out of the playoffs in '01, '02, '04, and '08.

Dirk knocked him out in '06 and '09.

'04 and '06 both could have been title contenders had it not been for crazy series of events.

Ultimately, had to give it to Kobe.

[DMC]

Gil Urbano

[heyheymymy]

gotta be shaq

[Spurs Brazil]

Shaq

[Hemotivo]

Another player. Manu Ginobili. Denied him a Gold Medal.

[kobyz]

Derek Fisher, he has the most playoff appearances against Tim...

[mowgli]

So as I already stated, it's Dirk from my point of view. But geez, if you could ask Duncan, I wonder what he'd say...

I was browsing some Spurs stuff online and I ran across this link that refers to an SI article on Duncan http://blog.mysanantonio.com/spursnation/2012/05/16/duncans-rivalry-with-garnett-detailed-in-si-article/


In it, Ballard calls Duncan “arguably the greatest player of his generation” and “inarguably the most successful” after four NBA titles.

The most interesting part of the article details what Mannix entitled “His Buddy KG.”

In it, Mannix quotes sources who claim that Duncan “hates Kevin Garnett. Hates him the way that liberals hate Sean Hannity.”

Sources tell Mannix that Garnett has made a career of attempting to “punk Duncan, baiting him and slapping him and whispering really weird smack into his ear.”

[dunkman]

Shaq, then Dirk, now LeBron.

[J.T.]

Father of time

Tim is winning that head-to-head matchup so far.

[ffadicted]

Shaq and then Dirk after.
Kobe and Lebron, nah... doesn't fit because of diff in game. Garnett can't be a rival because it's not even a competition

[TampaDude]

Dirk. Division rivals > others

[JR3]

Either shaq or lebron

[Cloud786]

Rivalries are made only in the playoffs. It has to be Shaq first since we faced the lakers 4 out of 5 years in the playoffs. I would say Dirk is a close second though. Prime Shaq vs prime Timmy was a sight to behold.

[TheCerebral1]

Shaq is probably the closest thing to a consistent rival when he was in the West. The next closest for me is Dirk.

[hsxvvd]

Lebron has certainly become the rival of recent years and there is 07'. If nothing else, Duncan has definately become LeBron's greatest Rival so far in his career.

Earlier in his career, Shaq & Kobe.

[Sec24Row7]

It was his Teammates penchant for international play.

[mudyez]

Shaq

[Skull-1]

It was his Teammates penchant for international play.

This.

[SpurOutofTownFan]

lol skull-1 moron... the foreigners are coming... boooooooohhhhhh

must hurt to be a spurs fan

[BillMc]

Lebron has certainly become the rival of recent years and there is 07'. If nothing else, Duncan has definately become LeBron's greatest Rival so far in his career.

Earlier in his career, Shaq & Kobe.

This is a good point. Timmy is defining Lebron's career, far more than Lebron defined Timmy's.

[Obstructed_View]

Smallball.

[spurraider21]

Shaq then Dirk

those are the two greatest contemporaries he went up against during his prime. The "rivalry" with Kobe is one mostly manufactured by the fans of the two respective players. While Duncan has met Lebron in the finals three times, they were never in their primes at the same time, really

[dbreiden83080]

Shaq and Kobe

Then Dirk..

[dbreiden83080]

Reg season against Dirk

Duncan leads 31-21
Playoffs he leads 18-15..

http://www.basketball-reference.com/play-index/h2h_finder.cgi?request=1&p1=duncati01&p2=nowitdi01#stats_playoffs