The best article on the Kobe vs. Duncan debate

[pass1st]

get off the hippo pills

You should respect your father, he lets you live at his house and eat his food.

[TheMACHINE]

If Duncan and Kobe played together, they probably win all the les from 1999-2007.

[kingmalaki]

Agreed.

I dont think you can credit the playoff success of Kobe or Duncan to either as individuals completely ...it is a team sport. If that is teh case then Duncan would deserve blame for the sweep last year. YEs they are the leaders for most of their teams (except the early 2000's Lakers) but that's a dumb reason...for this conclusion. I can get the argument you would rather have a big ...and I agree with that for the most part. I just think Kobe is the kind of player that you would take over most bigs. But Duncan is great and I think it's close enough that I can't say people who value Duncan over Kobe are morons. Some would take Kobe others Duncan ...you really cant go wrong with either. But there is no need to knock one to build up the other both to me are top 10 players I just place kobe slightly above.

My list (only since 1980)
1. MJ
2. Magic
3. Kareem
4. Kobe
5. Duncan
6. Shaq
7. Bird
8. Hakeem
9. Isiah
10. Lebron* (pending a le) Wade or Pippen could be here until then

I think the top 3 are indisputable ...thouigh I can see an argument for Kareem or Magic at one but I have MJ.

At 4,5,6,7,8 Are also debateable that is the beauty of a sports DEBATE. No articles can make a definitive argument. It's clearly a subjective process ...and unless you use stats only aree biased arguments. Even with stats it's still biased based on the criteria used for the analysis ..

Robert Horry played with Shaq, Kobe and Duncan and says Hakeem is the best he ever played with. Elie played with Duncan and says Hakeem is the best he ever played with. I'm just saying....

[FkLA]

Robert Horry played with Shaq, Kobe and Duncan and says Hakeem is the best he ever played with. Elie played with Duncan and says Hakeem is the best he ever played with. I'm just saying....

Dream at his peak is arguably the best center of all-time and would definitely need a higher ranking than Shaq, Duncan, and Kobe. Once you factor in longevity though I think Shaq and Duncan jump him.

[Leetonidas]

Players with all-time playoff OR/DR margins above 10:

Magic Johnson: 122, 107
MJ: 118, 104
Tim Duncan: 110, 98
Kareem: 114, 103
Hakeem: 112, 101
Larry Bird: 114, 104

Those stats don't prop Kobe up therefore they are useless and serve no purpose

[Koolaid_Man]

If Duncan and Kobe played together, they probably win all the les from 1999-2007.

Duncan would have been Kobe's per the usual if they played on the same team...Duncan wouldn't have had the balls to stand up to Kobe.... he would have been a yes man all the way

[jgome21]

This argument is irrelevent. Kobe plays the guard and TD is a power foward. You really can't compare the two.

[kingmalaki]

Dream at his peak is arguably the best center of all-time and would definitely need a higher ranking than Shaq, Duncan, and Kobe. Once you factor in longevity though I think Shaq and Duncan jump him.

False. Hakeem always had great numbers, and his career number (totals and avg per game) are right there with both of those guys. They just won more. They also, without a shadow of a doubt, played more seasons with teams capable of winning more. Especially peak seasons. Neither played half of theirprime years with subpar talent.

[Deuce Bigalow]

Kobe has a higher Playoff PER than Larry Bird and Magic Johnson
Doesn't mean he's better, PER doesn't tell you who's a better player.

[Killakobe81]

Robert Horry played with Shaq, Kobe and Duncan and says Hakeem is the best he ever played with. Elie played with Duncan and says Hakeem is the best he ever played with. I'm just saying....

I agree with both guys. At his peak Olajawon is better than both Kobe or Duncan tbh. But when you look at "body of work" number of years at a high level and multiple les, Duncan leading the first 4 les in Spur history that is where Kobe & Duncan have an edge on Shaq & Hakeem.

Olajawon & Kareem at his best were the two best big man I had ever seen, but unfortunately I didnt start watching ball until 1980 ...so i missed most of Kareem's prime.

[ClipperLuva]

Kobe has a higher Playoff PER than Larry Bird and Magic Johnson
Doesn't mean he's better, PER doesn't tell you who's a better player.

PER doesn't tell me that my team is better than yours. I just watch the ass whipping and figure it out.