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Today "making everyone better" doesn't mean that much. Here goes a video showing how Bird did that:
http://m.youtube.com/#/watch?v=EhnRtgBGMl4
Magic could pass even little better, but MJ didn't have nowhere near that kind of vision.
As did Magic:
"Michael Jordan is the best player ever in the air, Larry is the best ever on the floor."
- Magic Johnson
Today "making everyone better" doesn't mean that much. Here goes a video showing how Bird did that:
http://m.youtube.com/#/watch?v=EhnRtgBGMl4
Magic could pass even little better, but MJ didn't have nowhere near that kind of vision.
Kobe for all his true greatness is very argueable as holding that period past Jordan for any great length:
From 1998-2007 it was either Shaq [who from 2000-2002 definetely gets it IMO] or Duncan who combined led teams to mulitiple championships and finals MVPs and were by definition the dominant players and forces on the Lakers or Spurs and in the league. Kobe was not considered the dominant player during that period and during 3/5 of this les. Then while on a very deep team during the last half decade he has been outplayed in various years by both Wade and James and Kobe without Shaq or Gasol/Odom/Bynum simply did not prove he could carry a without abundant talent around him, i.e., a stacked team far.
If Kobe was ever truly the greatest player in the NBA beyond any 1-2 year period - his reign was remarkably short.
SI rightfully called Duncan the player of the decade and Duncan can make a much stronger case as the dominant force on 4 les than Kobe. http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/200...hts/index.html
PLAYER OF THE DECADE: Tim Duncan, San Antonio Spurs
The greatest power forward in NBA history, Duncan was the reason San Antonio became the only team to make the playoffs every year of the decade. He was the most valuable team player of his era, an active defender who chased pick-and-rolls out to the three-point line and yet hustled back to protect the rim and control the boards. Offensively, the Spurs played through him as a passer in the post, and his dependable mid-range jumper off the backboard will be part of his highlight reel when he checks into Springfield.
Read more: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/200...#ixzz1kPKRC1LN
Magic, whose dominant game in the finals playing center proved he could do it all - is hard to evaluate as his career ended tragically early due to his illness but a much better case can be made for him but most historians would say he co-shared the period before MJ with Bird as they traded les and MVPs.
Last edited by Rummpd; 01-24-2012 at 02:59 PM.
He was the best white boy ever
That would clearly be Tim Duncan followed closely by Shaq. Nice try though.
And Magic thought Bird was the best
Bird, Magic, MJ just give props to each other
As much as I like Timmy, I think Kobe will be remembered by most people as the player of the 2000s.
Horry: "Hakeem Olajuwon and Bryant are the best players he has ever played with."
Great player, but his early career got eclipsed by Duncan and Shaq, he wasted some years trying to make playoffs and exiting in first round, when the Lakers finally got by far most NBA talent in 08, his game was eclipsed by better players like Dirk and LeBron. He has a long career, but was never dominant.
I can't understand how someone can honestly say the 2000's were his era.
You're a ing dumbass
the 2000's isn't the only decade in this era. Judging total careers from this 'era', ie post Jordan, it's Duncan, then Shaq (with arguments going either way for these two), then Kobe, and it's not much of a debate past the first two.
Kobe will end up higher on the all-time list than Timmy, and maybe Shaq, but that's solely because of his scoring. When it comes to the best overall players of the Post Jordan era, you have to give the props where they are due.
No one will ever forget 05-07, no matter how hard Kobefan wants them to.
He would have only 2 rings and no one would care about he has to say, not 7, if his statements were to make some sense. I guess he wants a job in the Lakers organization.
To put it simple, the threepeat Lakers run their offense trough Shaq. And Duncan while injured and then past his prime, was still the Spurs best player in 05 and 07. BTW, Horry shot horribly against the Lakers in 04.
Cool story, bro
"If you are talking about guards, I would say he has got to be in the top 10.”
- MJ referencing Kobe
Lakers offense ran through Magic, he had the ball and made the plays, So Kareem's rings don't count?
"Kobe's the only one to have done the work to be compared to me""If you are talking about guards, I would say he has got to be in the top 10.”
- MJ referencing Kobe
Kareem's rings definitely count, but if anyone were silly enough to say that he and Magic were equals, even during Magic's rookie season, they'd be laughed off the court. Magic was the man and Kareem was the sidekick, regardless of how much he scored or how they viewed each other.
Bird vs Magic all those years ...
Magic and Kareem are both > Kobe and Duncan
Yet, ALL of their rings were won with each other
MJ never said that. He may have said something like it, we don't know for sure.
Magic>Bird.
These are things we know.
I would expect Horry to give his former players, particularly Hakeem, some props. And scoring wise, Kobe probably is the best player Horry ever played with.
The 2000s will probably be remembered as Kobes era by ESPN and the NBA for business reasons. The Lakers and Kobe have much more appeal than the Spurs and Duncan. Casual fans will go with that, but I think most unbiased knowledgeable people will realize it was Duncans decade.
Please explain, why Duncan deserves to be recognized as the player of the decade over Kobe.
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