Bball ref: 2003 Tim vs. 2016 LeBron (Finals Edition)

[HarlemHeat37]

He was a one man wrecking crew for so long.

Yep, but as the NBA has grown in popularity and gained a lot of new fans(young and old), you'll often see the assumption that the Spurs have always been a balanced team that succeeds due to "the system" ..

I had to drop some game on my little cousins a few months ago when they asked me about Duncan, for example..a lot of these fans that weren't around back then seem to think his strongest selling point is his longevity, forgetting how completely dominant he was from 1999 to 2003, before the injuries and Pop's "maintenance" plan began..

[TheGreatYacht]

nobody says that

Yes they do.

[Kawhitstorm]

Duncan's peak occurring during the "dark days" of the NBA is a shame, tbh..it has given many fans and media the false perception that prime Duncan was just a superior version of 2011-2014 Tim playing on a loaded supporting cast where they shared the load

Kareem's legacy also suffered since his PEAK & a majority of his prime was in the crack era.

[Kidd K]

Remember coming across this last year and seems relevant to this topic.

Regardless, 2003 Tim was obviously better than current LeBron. People are quick to forget how mediocre LeBron was in Games 1-4 (a big reason why they went down 3-1 in the first place).

I think that can be a potentially misleading stat. "oh look at all the help" is one way to look at it, but you can also say that they played well with their teammates and made them better rather than play selfishly. Jordan for example, who a lot of people compare Kobe to, did NOT ball hog and ball dominate that much despite the fact he took the most shots. . .unlike Kobe. So his teammates will have better stats by default due to the playstyle differences.

[Kawhitstorm]

So, the '87 Celtics supporting cast was worse the the '03 Spurs?

[bklynspursfan]

So many people don't remember TD in 03. It's a shame.... They're drooling over what Lebron has done, and don't get me wrong he had a terrific series. But Duncan in that Nets series, was incredible. Just amazing numbers

[Thomas82]

I always laugh when people say Dirk had the worst cast of all time in 2011

Tim stopped the 3 peat Lakers

+1