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duncan has won four NBA championships, 2 regular season MVPs, and 3 finals MVPs in the last decade. so the obvious answer is no.
Didn't see this posted, apologies if I missed it.
Does Kobe rule the decade?
Mike Monroe
In the final minute of Tuesday's NBA Finals Game 3, televised close-ups of Kobe Bryant revealed a player mouthing curses, anger directed inward.
The Lakers superstar had missed a critical, late free throw, which made him 5 for 10 on free-throw attempts, incredulous at temporary frailty under duress.
Could it be Bryant now understands how dominant Tim Duncan and Shaquille O'Neal have been over the past 10 seasons, during which each managed to anchor a team that won four NBA les while simultaneously fearing the foul line?
Depending on your geography or personal bias, the Lakers are either a few Bryant free-throw conversions from an unbeatable 3-0 advantage or one Courtney Lee lob-layup miss shy of a 1-2 deficit in a best-of-7 series that will remain in central Florida for two more games.
Fact is, L.A. holds home-court advantage even if the Magic win Games 4 and 5. That makes Bryant the favorite to earn his fourth championship, his first without O'Neal as a teammate.
When, and if, this happens, expect plenty of experts to declare Bryant the most dominant player of the past 10 years.
Will a fourth le really affirm his ascendancy as the defining player of this era?
Your opinion may depend on the span of your memory.
Wasn't it just two years ago that the Spurs won their fourth championship behind Duncan's play?
Can we be just three years removed from O'Neal's fourth le run, after he became the piece Dwyane Wade and the Heat needed to secure a championship?
Some NBA eras have been simple to define:
The early years belonged to George Mikan, who led the Minneapolis Lakers to five les, from 1949-54.
Bill Russell dominated from his rookie season, 1956-57, until he retired, with 11 rings, after serving as Celtics player-coach on the 1969 le team.
Michael Jordan dominated from 1990-98, when he led the Bulls to two three-peats that were sandwiched around his stepping away from the game to dabble at baseball.
Duncan's championship run began in 1999, which puts a neat, 10-year punctuation mark on the latest era. But it is an era akin to the 1980s, when Larry Bird and Magic Johnson shared dominance.
Steve Kerr won three les as a teammate of Jordan's, in 1996, '97 and '98; then two more alongside Duncan, in 1999 and 2003. As general manager of the Suns, he traded for O'Neal. This gives him a unique perspective to judge this latest, arbitrarily assigned stretch of NBA history.
Kerr, though, swatted the opportunity like an overhead smash on the tennis court.
The Suns' GM said he passed some time during a recent trans-Atlantic flight by reading a newspaper article that compared tennis star Roger Federer, whose French Open men's singles championship was his 14th Grand Slam le, to all-time greats Pete Sampras and Rod Laver.
“I finished the article,” Kerr said, “and thought: This is impossible. Whether it's comparing eras or players, the obvious answer is: They're all great players.
“So: Tim, Shaq, Kobe? They're all dominant. Who's more dominant? It's impossible to say.”
Perhaps there is an alternate answer in the debate. A Lakers championship will give Derek Fisher his fourth le, too. Had Fisher not hit the infamous zero-point-four shot that beat the Spurs in Game 5 of the 2004 Western semifinals, Duncan and the Spurs may have gone on to a second straight le, then a three-peat, in 2005.
Then, there would be no debate at all. The years from 1999-2009 would be the Duncan era, plain and simple.
Maybe Fisher, with one clutch basket, changed the decade as much as the players involved in this debate have.
duncan has won four NBA championships, 2 regular season MVPs, and 3 finals MVPs in the last decade. so the obvious answer is no.
Does Kobe rule the decade? NO
Just to be impartial, with the 'decade' spanning from 2000-2009, it is Duncan actually winning 3 NBA championships, 2 regular season MVPs, and 2 Finals MVPs. But still Duncan beats Kobe in this regard.
Due to the stenchifideness of the le can this thread be moved to the NBA forum section?
Or changed to "Does Duncan Rule The Decade?"?
sorry duncan228, just wanting to keep any Kobme stuff in its proper place.
I put it here because Duncan is part of the conversation. I'm sure it will be moved if it doesn't belong here.
And, I usually use article headlines for thread les.
true, but "decades" are pretty arbitrary. boston's dynasty spanned from 1959-1966, winning 8 championships at that time. one doesn't cut off the boston championship won in 1959 and call it a different time. the article should go by eras. the NBA is currently in the post jordan/lockout era. and until another dynasty is established or the lakers and spurs stop winning championships, this era is still belongs to the lakers/spurs.
Duncan and Shaq are clearly ahead, even if he wins it this year..winning 1 as the #1 doesn't overshadow 4 and 3..
didnt i start a thread about this a while back? lol
who to is that kobe guy? never heard of him
is he from japan?
Kobe is WAY BETTER than the tin man you sorry spurm fans!! Live with it
les this decade.
Lakers 4
spurms 3
*99 is not part of this decade
That's your answer dumbasses!
Lakers three-peated the spurms couldn't even make back-to-back appearances in the Western Conference Finals...much less the finals...
Kobe indeed rules this decade
The lakers as a team, yes.
Kobe... No.
Duncan rules the decade!!!
Tim Duncan ruled NBA for almost 9 good years. But I honestly admit this year and last one belong to Kobe...Kobe is undeniable one of the best player in the league (the other two are Lebron and Dwight). Everyone try to talk down Kobe is just in a state of denial. Kobe doesnt rule the decade, but he is ruling the NBA now for sure!!! Spurs kingdom is in the brink of jeopardy, if FO didnt make the right offseason moves. This year will be the biggest year for FO, because other teams are getting better..the league is not getting any softer.
funny thing is: `00 isn't either
Duncan is the #1 player but another Kobe le and especially Finals MVP and he could over jump him. Get on it Tim !
No way!
Yeah, officially decades (and centuries, and millenia) end on 0's, so this decade would be 2001-2010. But some people might mean it to be the last 10 years, or starting on the 0. It's hard to figure out without clarifification from the person who is talking, since there are plenty of options on what they need.funny thing is: `00 isn't either
Most people tend to assume 0-9 as a decade because it makes logical sense when talking about the 80s, or 90s, etc. '80-'89 makes more sense as the decade of the '80s than 81-90 like it really should be.
timmy has done more with less than kobe ever will.....they have had the best talent of any team for the last couple of years
Doesn't Shaq have 4 rings he made this decade also? Didn't he make them in a shorter time then Kobe?
lol Louis
lol Louis
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