Why Players Revere Bryant More Than Duncan

[aal04]

It really doesnt matter. Like I said before, Tim Duncan in 10 years time will be out of the top 20-25 players. People will forget what he did and look at his 17/9 final career stats. They will say TP carried him in 07 and Kawhi in 14, and the people who actually watched both seasons know Tim Duncan was still the best spurs player despite not winning the FMVP. they will look at the lack of DPOY awards despite him being one of the top 2 defensive players in history.

FYI, I rate Duncan higher than MJ, who failed against the Bad boys and took PEDs in the early 90s to get the edge. I still rate the 03 run as the greatest ever run by any player. But I know Duncan will be underrated within months of his retirement.

[quentin_compson]

I think that for casual and superficial viewers, Kobe's game looks more stylish, more flashy than Duncan's. And as we see time and time again, players sometimes can bee very superficial when talking about their sport.
And the media narrative of Kobe as Jordan's successor and as a clutch player with an iron will to win has been shoved down our collective throats for so long, it's not easy to free yourself from that.
That being said, Tim certainly seems to enjoy the utmost respect among his peers. It's not like his greatness remains unrecognized or something.

[Cowboys_Wear_Spurs]

The reason modern day players revere Kobe over Duncan is b/c Duncan is a one of kind player. High IQ, Natural Leader, interpersonal, private, extremely gifted post player, etc.

These are qualities very few players ever possessed in the NBA. We live in the ME Generation which even Time magazine coined modern day America. Being a chugger and fame and glory player like Kobe is what most young players aspire to and can relate to.

That's why most older players say Duncan is the best b/c they are from a different cloth than the modern day players.

[NameLess Scrub]

Time and time again, they prove that they're nothing more than genetic lottery winners.

Fact of life


I don't rule out old players, just have to take them with the proverbial grain of salt.

Also, I like watching Chuck because he's entertaining. I've heard him talk like he doesn't take the game very seriously and that nobody wants to talk X and Os for hours. I think TNT is watchable if taken for what it is.

[NameLess Scrub]

The reason modern day players revere Kobe over Duncan is b/c Duncan is a one of kind player. High IQ, Natural Leader, interpersonal, private, extremely gifted post player, etc.

These are qualities very few players ever possessed in the NBA. We live in the ME Generation which even Time magazine coined modern day America. Being a chugger and fame and glory player like Kobe is what most young players aspire to and can relate to.

That's why most older players say Duncan is the best b/c they are from a different cloth than the modern day players.

Was it ever different after the early 90s? That's around when I started watching basketball, and it has always been about perimeter play, one on one, being like Mike, etc.

Kids wanted the bigs to do the dirty work so they could run and shoot everything.

I mean in general, there's always people who like the Spurs style and etc.

[elemento]

Bryant simply realized he was done having laughable performances and announced his retirement to get people cheering for him in his last ride and a free pass to suck. And he got what he wanted. Attention as a worthless player that he is now.

If Kobe never makes that announcement, nobody would even talk about him. Duncan won't announce his retirement in the middle of the season putting 25 shots a game on atrocious efficiency playing for a lottery team. He will simply say "ciao" fighting for another le and let his accomplishments speak for himself.

[HarlemHeat37]

Was it ever different after the early 90s? That's around when I started watching basketball, and it has always been about perimeter play, one on one, being like Mike, etc.

Kids wanted the bigs to do the dirty work so they could run and shoot everything.

I mean in general, there's always people who like the Spurs style and etc.

Jordan ruined basketball as much as he helped it, tbh..the NBA reached new heights of popularity when Jordan was on top, but he also spawned an entire generation of ISO/ball-hogging players..

Fortunately, Lebron, the Spurs, Mavs, Celtics and Warriors revived team basketball..

[SpursforSix]

By now, I'm sure everyone has seen/heard the over the top love fest and claims of him being "this generation's Jordan" (apparently Jordan was the fourth best player of his generation).

Some of it is lip service. James, for example, has clearly never been his biggest fan, but as a longtime face of the league, he tows the company line. Much of it, of course, is genuine, because Bryant is their ideal image of what a basketball player should be. From the dark skin, to the profuse sweating, to the constant scowling, to the berating of just about everyone at one time or another, to the arrogance, to the trash talking, to the posing, to his size, position and the style in which he plays. The selfish, iso balling, high degree of difficulty shots, etc. He's everything they think of when they think of basketball.

Duncan is, of course, the polar opposite in virtually every respect, so of course many of them don't hold him in the same regard. The vast majority also know nothing about and in many cases shun advanced stats, which doesn't help his cause.

This is precisely why the vast majority of NBA players, particularly former ones, shouldn't be in positions of power in the league, have a hand in voting for anything involving the league or have their opinions taken seriously. Time and time again, they prove that they're nothing more than genetic lottery winners, who know little about and have a distorted view of the game.

I don't know that it's a slight to Duncan to call Bryant, "this generation's Jordan". I'm not sure that equates to player's revering Duncan less either. Bryant plays a position that is quite frankly more exciting to watch for most people and has more opportunity to do more highlight worthy plays. Even though there is a huge dropoff between Jordan and Bryant, Kobe is the player most reminiscent of MJ.

I don't think there are many players in the league that would say that Duncan wasn't the better player.

[keeferob25]

Jordan ruined basketball as much as he helped it, tbh..the NBA reached new heights of popularity when Jordan was on top, but he also spawned an entire generation of ISO/ball-hogging players..

Fortunately, Lebron, the Spurs, Mavs, Celtics and Warriors revived team basketball..

EXACTLY! If I remember correctly, I even think there was a jordan brand commercial some time ago where he was doing a voice-over and said that very thing or something like it...I remember at the time rolling my eyes because you could tell it was meant to be a "cute" deep line that Jordan would never actually believe in all his narcissism but it really was/is the truth. For all of Duncan's qualities I have and will ALWAYS feel that he is the greatest FRANCHISE player of all time...im not talking about Spurs franchise...but of all the legendary greats...to me HE is the one you'd have the easiest time building around and SUSTAINING greatness for a longer period. But Duncan is all about nuance and subtlety that is easily missed and dismissed by dumbass casuals who flock to flare and big names.

[el contusione]

Tim is the PRIME example of how a basketball player should be. He's the best ever in his position, he does not rely on just athleticism, ultimate teammate, sacrifices for the team, accepts his role no matter how big or small, no drama... I can go on and on about Tim. Probably Tim won't care if he doesn't get the same farewell as kobe but man as a fan its annoying. I wanna see Tim get the same (if not better) type of farewell kobe is receiving. The players, the league, the fans, the world needs to see how much this man has given to this game. Tim is the complete player you can ever ask for.

TIM

[SpursforSix]

Tim is the PRIME example of how a basketball player should be. He's the best ever in his position, he does not rely on just athleticism, ultimate teammate, sacrifices for the team, accepts his role no matter how big or small, no drama... I can go on and on about Tim. Probably Tim won't care if he doesn't get the same farewell as kobe but man as a fan its annoying. I wanna see Tim get the same (if not better) type of farewell kobe is receiving. The players, the league, the fans, the world needs to see how much this man has given to this game. Tim is the complete player you can ever ask for.

TIM

There probably won't be a big farewell tour but I guarantee that there will be lots of press and interviews with players and coaches talking about his greatness. And I suspect that if there is a sense that he's going to hang em up at some point, the crowds won't waste their chance to give him the standing ovations.

[Kawhitstorm]

Jordan ruined basketball as much as he helped it, tbh..the NBA reached new heights of popularity when Jordan was on top, but he also spawned an entire generation of ISO/ball-hogging players..

Fortunately, Lebron, the Spurs, Mavs, Celtics and Warriors revived team basketball..

No, zone defense revived team basketball

[rmt]

I think that for casual and superficial viewers, Kobe's game looks more stylish, more flashy than Duncan's. And as we see time and time again, players sometimes can bee very superficial when talking about their sport.
And the media narrative of Kobe as Jordan's successor and as a clutch player with an iron will to win has been shoved down our collective throats for so long, it's not easy to free yourself from that.
That being said, Tim certainly seems to enjoy the utmost respect among his peers. It's not like his greatness remains unrecognized or something.

Even Lebron - unsolicited.

[TD 21]

I disagree with the last part..nothing is worse than NFL coverage, tbh..it's in a different universe of corny, cliche, inaccurate analysis..

They're at least allowed to analyze the technical side of the game, unlike the NBA, who panders to casual fans.

Fact of life


I don't rule out old players, just have to take them with the proverbial grain of salt.

Also, I like watching Chuck because he's entertaining. I've heard him talk like he doesn't take the game very seriously and that nobody wants to talk X and Os for hours. I think TNT is watchable if taken for what it is.

TNT used to be better, back when the jokes were organic and they weren't parodies of themselves. Like any long running show, maybe it was destined to happen eventually, but it fell off right around the time O'Neal joined.

The whole "fans don't want to hear X's and O's" notion never made sense to begin with and is antiquated thinking. If you're interested in something, why wouldn't you want to know more about it? The NFL is broken down to no end and viewers aren't tuning them out.

I don't know that it's a slight to Duncan to call Bryant, "this generation's Jordan". I'm not sure that equates to player's revering Duncan less either. Bryant plays a position that is quite frankly more exciting to watch for most people and has more opportunity to do more highlight worthy plays. Even though there is a huge dropoff between Jordan and Bryant, Kobe is the player most reminiscent of MJ.

I don't think there are many players in the league that would say that Duncan wasn't the better player.

It's both that and a nod to him supposedly being this generation's greatest player.

Shouldn't players understanding/appreciation of the game be deep enough, to be beyond casual fan speak/think, such as "Bryant plays a position that is quite frankly more exciting to watch for most people and has more opportunity to do more highlight worthy plays"?

I disagree. I think most players believe Bryant is better. Most of the compliments about Duncan have little to nothing to do with his talent.

[SpursforSix]

They're at least allowed to analyze the technical side of the game, unlike the NBA, who panders to casual fans.



TNT used to be better, back when the jokes were organic and they weren't parodies of themselves. Like any long running show, maybe it was destined to happen eventually, but it fell off right around the time O'Neal joined.

The whole "fans don't want to hear X's and O's" notion never made sense to begin with and is antiquated thinking. If you're interested in something, why wouldn't you want to know more about it? The NFL is broken down to no end and viewers aren't tuning them out.




It's both that and a nod to him supposedly being this generation's greatest player.

Shouldn't players understanding/appreciation of the game be deep enough, to be beyond casual fan speak/think, such as "Bryant plays a position that is quite frankly more exciting to watch for most people and has more opportunity to do more highlight worthy plays"?

I disagree. I think most players believe Bryant is better. Most of the compliments about Duncan have little to nothing to do with his talent.

I just can't believe that. If that's true, then I guess it proves that most players have low bbiq. I also think that a lot of players say that but don't truly believe it.

[YGWHI]

I would wait to see how the players act when Tim retires before to say they revere Bryant more than him.

[sexinthatsx]

More on that note, I found a hilarious post from realgm regarding Kobe's announcement of retirement:

"This sendoff screams of NBA making money. Why should I care if its his last game in a Kings or Knicks arena?

My opinion......

-Kobe is a horrible teammate who never made anyone better playing with him. No star wanted to sign to play with him. Ruined
his last chance at a ring by blowing it with Dwight. Who leaves the Lakers(the basketball mecca) primed to be their next star center? Someone who knows how Kobe really is?

-He insults Shaq who is tied as the most dominate center of all time with Wilt and acts like he was lazy.

-He pisses off Phil Jackson so much that he even writes a book about how uncoachable he was. Phil came back and coached him again for the money and as a favor to the Buss's. I dont care if he was young, Phil is like a saint of patience to begin with.

-Ruins the confidence of Kwame Brown who was on his way to being a quality rebounder in this league by making him so nervous to mess up he ends up messing uo. Yeah Kwame was a bust but Kobe just rubbed it in so dude could never improve.

-He insults roleplayers just trying to make it in this league like Smush Parker who basically had the same stats at Derek Fisher and acts like he isn't even good enough to talk to him when dude was just an average NBA player and wasn't touted as a superstar to begin with...

-He did nothing in the Laker youth movement to improve any of the players. Just chucked up shots even when he knew he was a liability because of being a narcissist.

-A horrible as a human human being to his wife and to that girl in Denver."

Kwame Brown
Smush Parker

[Spurtacular]

It's because Kobe has always been at the ready for some controversy and storylines, tbh... That's what used to sell magazines, and nowadays online subscriptions... It has little to do with the game (and I'm not taking anything away from early 2000's Kobe who was an athletic monster)...

Similar situation with Bird and Jordan. Bird owned Jordan. It was never in the media's interest to not crown MJ as goat though.

[james evans]

Because the media tells them to, and most people are ing sheep that can't think for themselves..Simple as that. No other explanation needed

[Capt Bringdown]

Because most people are born to follow.

[Killakobe81]

Similar situation with Bird and Jordan. Bird owned Jordan. It was never in the media's interest to not crown MJ as goat though.

Interesting.

[thiste]

The reason people revere Bryant more than Tim is simply that the media as a whole has been teabagging Kobe for more than 20 years. Simple as that.

[Spurtacular]

Interesting.

Bird beat Jordan 14X in a row; swept him out of the playoffs twice in a row....

[midnightpulp]

It's pretty simple. Kobe's game is "exciting" to watch, especially to an AAU blue chip wing who grew up watching Kobe and playing NBA2K. Duncan's game would only interest the hardcore basketball fan and other bigs (Dirk is really the only big who reveres Kobe). I'd wager bigs from Shaq to Gasol would revere Duncan more.

[DMC]

"Toe the line" not "tow the line". It's not a barge contest. It's an old navy term.