Duncan best playoff performer of all time?

[Galileo]

Duncan best playoff winner of all time?

Tim Duncan has a playoff Win/Loss record of 91 wins and only 47 losses, a winning percentage of 65.9%

Duncan has a playoff series Win/Loss record of 22 series won and only 5 lost, a winning percentage of 81.5%

He did this in the tougher Western conference.

Question:

Is there any other player in history than can match these overall numbers? I am only talking about elite players who were considered the best player on their team and the team leader.



Spur stalk rules!!!

[StoneBuddha]

Damn, wow those numbers are pretty damn impressive. Only 5 series loses in his entire career!?! And two of those losses were by a eyelash...

I was impressed before but those numbers really put things in perspective. The man knows winning!

[adidas11]

Probably Shaq and Jordan (Post 1990)

[Galileo]

Probably Shaq and Jordan (Post 1990)

I am looking for some exact numbers. I do not have time to do all the research. Jordan is 30-7 career in playoff series, 81.1%

Duncan can tie Jordan with another NBA le this year [4-0] >>> 26-5, then two losing trips to the conference finals [2-1, 2-1], putting him at 30-7.

[MrChug]

Sorry...those numbers belong to THE SPURS TEAM, not Tim Duncan. This coming from a Duncan worshipper. It took ALOT of team, not just a little to create those numbers, seriously.

But yah...he's pretty freakin awesome.

[CubanMustGo]

I love Timmay but he's had a lot of help getting there. Best team playoff record != best iindividual playoff performer of all time.

Or, in other words, +1 to MrChug.

[duncan228]

I know a statement like "best playoff performer of all time" needs stats to back it up.
I'll leave that to others.

I know that there may never be another Jordan, with the complete owning of the league for two three-peats.

I know all about the Celtics of the sixties.

I know about the Lakers three-peat and Shaq's dominance on three teams. (I'm not counting the Suns.)

I know this is a team sport, one man cannot win it alone.

With all that said, I still think Duncan is the best ever.
He's done it four times, with different casts of characters around him each time.
He's been the dominate force of his team for a decade. On both ends of the court.
In the Duncan era the Spurs have the best winning percentage of any major sport.
Every move made in the West recently was done to try to beat Duncan.
He steps his game up when it matters most.
And on and off the court he's the classiest thing this league has seen.

I may be biased, but there's no one better in my book.

[dbreiden83080]

It ticks me off that Duncan will not have a legacy like the Magic Johnson's and even Larry Birds of the world because of his perceived lack of flash. He is like the Marvin Hagler of the NBA. An all time great but everyone during his day was all about Ray Leonard. Duncan is in the middle on an era he has really dominated and people don't talk about him.

[Galileo]

It ticks me off that Duncan will not have a legacy like the Magic Johnson's and even Larry Birds of the world because of his perceived lack of flash. He is like the Marvin Hagler of the NBA. An all time great but everyone during his day was all about Ray Leonard. Duncan is in the middle on an era he has really dominated and people don't talk about him.

I'd call Duncan the Ron Paul of the NBA.



Both are the best!

[stretch]

He's done it four times, with different casts of characters around him each time.

He won 4 les, but 3 of them had the same basic cast (Duncan, Manu, Parker), with a few different role players here and there, as did Jordan and many other people who won multiple les.

I may be biased

You are. He's a top 10, probably top 5 of all time. Not ahead of Jordan by any means though.

[Cry Havoc]

He won 4 les, but 3 of them had the same basic cast (Duncan, Manu, Parker), with a few different role players here and there, as did Jordan and many other people who won multiple les.



You are. He's a top 10, probably top 5 of all time. Not ahead of Jordan by any means though.

Agreed. That's a VERY select list though. Being rated as the "5th best" NBA player is a slight to no one, nowhere, at any time.

With a ring this year, Duncan will have 5, and can strongly make a contention for 3rd, 4th, or 5th on the list. I don't know if we're ever going to see another player so consistently dominant at both ends of the court again. To put it another way, Duncan is not the best defender in NBA history, but he is the most consistently excellent defender I have ever seen. That alone deserves a top 10 ranking, to say nothing of his 6th, 7th, and 8th gears come playoffs (Jordan had 9 or 10 ), or his working knowledge of the game with an IQ that is almost unmatched.

To put it short: Dude is pimp.

[ManuTim_best of Fwiendz]

It ticks me off that Duncan will not have a legacy like the Magic Johnson's and even Larry Birds of the world because of his perceived lack of flash. He is like the Marvin Hagler of the NBA. An all time great but everyone during his day was all about Ray Leonard. Duncan is in the middle on an era he has really dominated and people don't talk about him.

He'll get his due with time. I'd say he's more like Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.
I already notice a general consensus among the marginal fans, that he's the best PF of all time, and is the main guy (winning big man) other than Shaq this decade. Where like five years ago, he wasn't as appreciated (KG was on his "level" to some.) His legend will only grow.

[duncan228]

You are.

I always admit it.

I agree, he will go down as top 10 at least.
It remains to be seen how high in there he'll end up.

I'm always alone when I put Duncan above Jordan, or plenty of other players for that matter.
But I take more than Duncan's game into account, most people don't. I look at the whole package, on and off the court.

For me, there's never been a player like him and I don't think there ever will be.

Oh, and as far as the big three being on 3 of the le teams...Parker and Manu were not the players they are now in the '03 run. The role players changed and Parker and Manu's contributions changed (granted, for the better.)
Duncan is the constant.

[duncan228]

I don't know if we're ever going to see another player so consistently dominant at both ends of the court again.

...or his working knowledge of the game with an IQ that is almost unmatched.

I don't think we'll ever see another one like him.
But I guess I've said that already.

[stretch]

Agreed. That's a VERY select list though. Being rated as the "5th best" NBA player is a slight to no one, nowhere, at any time.

With a ring this year, Duncan will have 5, and can strongly make a contention for 3rd, 4th, or 5th on the list. I don't know if we're ever going to see another player so consistently dominant at both ends of the court again. To put it another way, Duncan is not the best defender in NBA history, but he is the most consistently excellent defender I have ever seen. That alone deserves a top 10 ranking, to say nothing of his 6th, 7th, and 8th gears come playoffs (Jordan had 9 or 10 ), or his working knowledge of the game with an IQ that is almost unmatched.

To put it short: Dude is pimp.

Agreed.

And I've always said it, that the only player I would MAYBE consider building a team around before Michael Jordan, would be Tim Duncan.

[phxspurfan]

MJ, all day
<-------

[Cry Havoc]

Agreed.

And I've always said it, that the only player I would MAYBE consider building a team around before Michael Jordan, would be Tim Duncan.

How about:

PG: ____
SG: Michael Jordan
SF: ____
PF: Tim Duncan
C: ____

You could have the third cousin of Richard Simmons playing Center for that team and still bring home NBA les. I like it.

[stretch]

I look at the whole package, on and off the court.

Off the court has nothing to do with how good of a player they are.

Duncan is the constant.

So was Jordan. Pippen was a mere role-player as well, that played and developed into an all-star level player because of Jordan, much in the same way Duncan helped Manu and Parker develop and play like all-star caliber players, despite truly being role players.

[stretch]

How about:

PG: ____
SG: Michael Jordan
SF: ____
PF: Tim Duncan
C: ____

You could have the third cousin of Richard Simmons playing Center for that team and still bring home NBA les. I like it.

That's about all you need is those two. The rest of the team could consist of Mark Madsen, Ryan Bowen, and Shawn Bradley, and they would still beat the out of everyone.

[duncan228]

Off the court has nothing to do with how good of a player they are.

I didn't say it did.
And I said that's why I'm usually alone in how I look at it.
For me this game is more than digital stats, more than just on court performance.
In Duncan I found a player who has all of that and then some.
It made the difference for me.

[FromWayDowntown]

I'd agree with the notion that Tim Duncan will be more widely appreciated when he retires and he's no longer the source of derision as the face of a team that so many seem to despise.

[stretch]

I didn't say it did.
And I said that's why I'm usually alone in how I look at it.
For me this game is more than digital stats, more than just on court performance.
In Duncan I found a player who has all of that and then some.
It made the difference for me.

Good for you. Still has nothing to do with how good of a player he is.

[Galileo]

Bill Russell in playoffs: [I was not able to see what games Russell missed, so I included all Boston games. Russell missed 2 playoff games in his career.]

Series

27 wins, 2 losses >>> 93.1% TD; 22-5, 81.5%

108 games won, 59 lost >>> 64.7% TD; 91-47, 65.9%

Duncan has a better W/L percentage in playoff games than BILL RUSSELL!!

Duncan has to only go 17-12 to tie Russell. Doable.

[duncan228]

Good for you. Still has nothing to do with how good of a player he is.

Thanks. I'm quite happy in my Duncan appreciation.

And we established he'll go down as top ten.

[ancestron]

Duncan's pretty good.